Page 650 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

From the 13th to the 20th century
THe PeRSeCUTiON OF HieROMONK GeRaSiM iN THe MONaSTeRY OF DeViČ BY aLBaNiaNS, 1741
in the year 7249 since the creation of the whole world and of the first-created man adam, and in 1741 since the Nativ- ity of Christ: i, sinful and unworthy to be called Hieromonk, Gerasim, have read this book; the fatherland of my wretch- edness—the grave, and my mother—the ground; from the Župa Monastery as the place where i was tonsured, descend- ing from the tribe of Nikšić. and then, i in my wretched- ness moved into the Devič Monastery by my own will. and then i suffered numerous woes and attacks from the cursed arbanasi fiends by day and night (...) i am writing this in the month of january, on the 1st day of the month, in Devič, moan- ing with deep sorrow.
The note in the MS from the Patriarchate of Peć 111: Ni V, 81–81 (7807); corrected according to V. Mošin: Manuscripts of the Patri- archate of Peć, antiquities of Kosovo and Metohia 4–5 (1968–1971, published in 1971) No 124
THe CHURCH iN PeĆ CLOSeD DURiNG THe PRiMaTeSHiP OF THe PaTRiaRCH OF PeĆ jOaNiKije iii KaRaDŽa, 1742
Let it be known that the church was closed in 1742 during the primateship of the Greek Patriarch.
The inscription on the western wall in Danilo’s Narthex, the Patri- archate of Peć
THe BOOK FROM THe GORiOČ MONaSTeRY, 1754
This holy and soul-saving book named Lazarevac, belongs to the Monastery Ogorioč (!), the church dedicated to Christ’s Saint Nicholas the Quick Helper. Signed and penned in the year 7263 (1754), on November 14 in Ogorioč. Penned by me, Radoslav from the village of istok, full of sins and most un- worthy of all people (...)
The note in the Dečani Book: Ni V, 121 (8046)
THe SORROW FOR THe MOTHeR OF GOD OF LjeViŠa
i, protopresbyter of the Church and Home of the Most Pure Mother of God in Prizren read this Commemoration Book, in 1756. O, woe is me for i have lived to see such a year! What a terrible year! and now the Turks bow end worship in that edifice and would not allow the Christians inside (...)
The note in the MS of the old National Library of Serbia, Belgrade, No 227: Ni ii, 190 (3109)
a MaN FROM PeTROVaRaDiN SeaRCHiNG FOR HiS OCCUPieD FaTHeRLaND iN KOSOVO, 1757
after having spent many years abroad, driven by the desire to see the traces of his fallen homeland and of pious living agreeable to God, the abovementioned resident of Petrova- radin, Vasilije Miroljub, came to the holy and imperial mo- nastic community of the Dečani Monastery as an inquisi- tive researcher of antiquity as well as novelty, in 1757 on au- gust 21, and was received with genuine Christian love.
The note in the Dečani Commemoration Book (Proskomedia): Lj. Stojanović, Ni V, 133 (8115)
THe SLaYiNG OF PRieST VeLiČKO iN KOSOVO POLje, 1760
Let it be known that Father Veličko was murdered in 1760; slain by cursed Hagarenes in Kosovo Polje.
The note on the wall in the Gračanica Monastery: Ni Vi, 135 (10299)
jOVaN GeORGijeViĆ LaMeNTS OVeR THe FaTe OF ORTHODOX CHRiSTiaN PeOPLeS, 1760
This sacred evangelion of our Lord and Savior jesus Christ, Son of God, i, humble jovan Georgijević, Bishop of Karanse- beš, Vršac, Logoš, Bela Crkva, Palanka, Mehadija, Horšav etc. presented as a gift to the imperial monastic community of Dečani, the Church of the Lord Pantokrator, for the forgive- ness of my transgressions and for the sacred service in this holy abode for the salvation of the entire world as announced by our Lord jesus Christ to all mankind, to those who be- lieve in His name. The abovementioned holy Monastery of Dečani was built by the pious and most eminent sovereign Serbian King Saint Stephen [St. King Stefan Dečanski], who in the lineage of Saint Simeon ascended to the throne as Uroš the Fifth bearing the name of the Nemanjić Dynasty; the then ruler of Serbia, Bulgaria, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, al- bania, Macedonia and the entire Western Littoral, includ- ing also the Lower and Upper Mission in illyricum. He had the monastery constructed with marvelous architectural art and enormous beauty endowing it with numerous villages and filling it with golden and silver vessels and sacred vest- ments for the service unto the Glory of the Lord and indeed his faith was adorned with good deeds and his deeds were sealed with faith! and his holy body has been resting in the kivot of this holy abode granting healing to those who come to it with faith, as it is sung in the eastern Orthodox Chris- tian Church of all the Serbs: “Stephen is my praise and my stronghold/strength!” Oh, these tears of mine! What a great all-glorious land and a pious empire it once had been—[en- compassing] Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian [lands] and other prin- cipalities, places visited by God, churches, holy sites–but there came infidels of the ishmaelite people—the Turks, de- stroying the inheritance—the empire, desecrating the holy Church of God! Behold, you Heavens, and hear, you earth! O, Lord, our Lord! Look down from Heaven and behold, and deliver this vine which Thy right hand hath planted, amen! in the year 1760 aD, in the town of Vršac, in Timisoara Ba- nat, in our new Bishop’s residence and in the Church of Holy arch-strategists Michael and Gabriel which is situated in the Bishop’s residence under the same roof.
The note in a printed book from Dečani: Ni ii, 201 (3165)
THe BOOK FROM DeSeRTeD VOjSiLOViCa iN GRaČaNiCa, 1762
in the year 1762, i came to the church in the Gračanica Mon- astery because the Monastery of Vojsilovica had become des- olate, therefore, since that year, i have been in the church in Gračanica.
The note in the MS of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Priz- ren (now belonging to the Diocese of Raška and Prizren): Ni ii, 208 (3204)
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