Page 740 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Archimandrite Teodosije with the Italian commander who protected Dečani Monastery
found that will ensure normal living conditions for all those living in Kosovo Metohija today. That the many holy shrines of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija will be preserved, and that all expelled Serbs will return to their homes in Kosovo and Metohija.
it is my humble hope that this will be my small contri- bution toward changing that picture, and that those decid- ing on the final status of Kosovo and Metohija will make a just solution that will satisfy both the Serbian people and the albanian minority.
On St. Vitus’ Day (Vidovdan), 2007
Protopresbyter-stavrophorSavoB Jović
Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me
You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; Defend me from those who rise up against me
I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim;
I drench my couch with my tears
Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity
(Ps56,1,8;59,1;6,6,7;64,1,2)
The Year 1945
it is well known that during the occupation the Diocese of Raška and Prizren was divided into three state regions: the largest part was given to albania (under italian occupa- tion), and the two smaller ones to Serbia and Bulgaria. From the part given to albania almost a third of the Serb popula- tion emigrated to Montenegro and Serbia because the al- banians undertook mass murder of Serb settlers, especial- ly in the area of Mt. Goleš and in Miloševo. all settlers’ churches between Prizren and Djakovica were destroyed. also destroyed was the church in Koriša, where the resi- dents were old-timers. Devič Monastery was torched and destroyed, its forest cut down, its property confiscated. The other monasteries, especially Dečani, suffered much dam- age: almost all their tillable land was confiscated, their for- ests cut and burned down, their vineyards and orchards cut down and ruined.
The remaining Serb population lived in great poverty, especially in the cities. The church parish in Prizren did
Bishop Nikolai (Velimirović) with the students and professors of the monastic school in Dečani Monastery
A wedding in Pištane village, 1961
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