St. Nikolai Velimirovich's Vision of the Heavenly Liturgy

[Traditional_Ang]

My Brothers and Sisters:

I found this on an Orthodox Website - “AMERICA - What is in store for you… and the world!” ( apostle1.com/america_end_times1-09-30-2004.htm ). It’s hard and emotional reading, as it tells how far we’ve fallen from God.

The Heavenly Liturgy
by, ST. NIKOLAI VELIMIROVICH
As you read the following, may it be strongly suggested that you substitute the words “SERBIA” and “SERBIAN” with the words of “AMERICA” and “AMERICAN”… where feasible in order to obtain a more true grasp of what befalls this country and the world…
Listen! What is that sound from afar?
Is it wind or gale?
Or the maple leaves murmuring?
Or the grass whispering to the earth?
Or the stars chanting in the sky?
2.

It is neither wind nor gale,
Nor the murmur of maple trees,
Nor the whispering of the grass,
Nor the chanting of the stars;
It is the Divine Liturgy being celebrated
In Christ’s Heavenly Kingdom.
3.

John Chrysostom celebrates the service.
With him are three hundred bishops,
Martyred in this world,
And three thousand honorable priests,
God-pleasing priests.
St. Stephen serves as deacon,
And with him, St. Laurence.
St. Paul reads the Epistle;
And St. Luke, the Holy Gospel.
Holding the Cross is Emperor Constantine.
The fans are borne by holy warriors:
Demetrius and Procopius,
George and Eustathius,
Along with many others.
Fiery Maria carries the flame,
With incense kindled by Elias, the Thunderer.
[The folk name for the holy Great-martyr Marina.
In Serbian folksongs she is referred to as lightning
which strikes sins]
Holy Healers anoint with oil,
And the Baptist sprinkles water.
Cherubim chant the Holy Hymn,
And the King of Glory sits upon His throne,
Filling Heaven with the light of His Countenance.
On His right stands the Blessed Theotokos,
Arrayed in star-studded royal purple.
St. Sava holds the scepter,
And numberless people are present,
More numerous than the stars in the heaven.
Saints and angels stand intermingled,
So that no one knows who is more beautiful.
When the Divine Liturgy ends,
The saints come to Christ,
Prostrating themselves before Him.
The very last is St. Sava,
Along with the holy saints of Serbia.
He prostrates himself
But does not wish to rise;
He remains face down before the throne.
The Holy Virgin comes
To lift him to his feet,
For to her he dedicated Hilandar,
[Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos,
dedicated to the Feast of the Entry of the
Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple]
But Sava rises only to his knees,
Not wishing to rise further.
He kneels before Christ.
5

The Good Christ comforts Sava,
Speaking to him tenderly:
O my child, Sava, son of Nemanja?

• St. Symeon Nemanja the Myrrhgusher,
  in the world Stephen, Grand Zhupan of Serbia
  (+1200) ]*
  Why art thou so sad?
  Why dost thou weep?
  Never before hast thou wept so piteously.
  Thou didst not weep thus for Kosovo,
  When the Serbian kingdom was lost—
  The kingdom and her rulers.
  Tell me then, dear child,
  How does Serbia stand?
  How stands the faith of her people?
  Are they now as they were in times past,
  Or have they changed, Sava?
  Do they celebrate many Liturgies
  And build many churches,
  As they once did in the time of Nemanja
  And his son St. Sava,
  In the time of glorious King Milutin,
• St. Milutin, King of Servia (+1320) ]*
  And my beloved Stephen of Decani?
• Great-Martyr Stephen-Urosh III of Decani,
  King of Serbia (1331) ]*
  In the time of Lazar, My martyr,
  And the glorious Milica of Ljubostinja,
• St. Milica, Princess of Serbia, wife of Great-
  Martyr Tsar Lazar, named Eugenia in monasticism
  (+1405) ]*
  And Angelina, the mother of Krushedol?
• St. Angelina, Despotina of Serbia (+ca. 1510) ]*
  And the other kings and princes?
  Do holy hymns resound throughout Serbia?
  Is My Gospel being proclaimed, spreading throughout the land?
  Is the Serbian land fragrant with incense?
  Is the stature of the Serbs honorable
  Before men and angels?
  Do the nobles deliberate with justice?
  Are the rich giving their alms?
  Do neighbors excuse one another?
  Are the strong aiding the weak?
  Do young men respect their elders?
  Do young maidens remain virgins?
  Are the priests living in holiness?
  Do the monks pray for the people,
  And do they warm their caves with tears,
  Fervently praying for men?
  Do people celebrate Sundays?
  Are they filling the churches on feast days?
  Tell me, dear Saint,
  Second savior of the Serbian people,
  What is the reason for thy distress?
  Why do tears streak thy face,
  And why dost thou end the heavenly hymn, weeping?

Continued on next post… Michael

 

[Traditional_Ang]

…Continued from Previous Post,

Link is here - apostle1.com/america_end_times1-09-30-2004.htm
Then Saint Sava replied:
"O Lord, great and powerful,
Before whom the Cherubim tremble,
Is there anything unknown to Thee?
Thou seest into the very heart of man,
And knowest his most secret thoughts.
Thou seest the worm beneath the oak tree’s bark,
The viper under the stone,
Every grain of sand at the bottom of the sea.
From Thine eyes the dark iniquities of sinful men,

For whom Thou wast crucified, are not hidden.
But Thy love covers all.
Out of love dost Thou pretend ignorance;
Out of love dost Thou ask me what is known to Thee;
Thou knowest better than I."
7

"Serbs are not what they once were,
Worse than before Kosovo;

• That is, before the Battle of Kosovo in 1389,
  when Tsar Lazar and his army sacrificed their lives ]*
  They have changed for the worse in everything.
  Thou gavest them freedom,
  Glory and victory.
  A kingdom larger than Dushan’s,
• Dushan, Emperor of Serbia (+l355) ]*
  But they became haughty with Thy gift
  And turned their faces away from Thee.
  The Serbian nobles have degenerated;
  They flirt with three faiths
  Yet do not believe truly in any of these.
  They have displaced Orthodoxy
  And discarded their Serbian names.
  They have forsaken their slavas
  And offended their saints.
  He who builds a church
  Builds it not for Thee, but for himself.
  They build churches to be seen by men,
  But they do not pray to God in these temples,
  Nor do they keep His law.
  The nobles have trampled down justice;
  The rich have neglected almsgiving;
  The young show insolence to their elders,
  Pretending to be more clever.
  The strong one ignores the weak
  And torments him until the end.
  Neighbors do not forgive one another,
  But they renounce each other for gain,
  For as little as a patch of muddy ground.
  Priests have weakened in their faith;
  Monks have left their fasting.
  Maidens throw away their virginity;
  Arrayed in silk, they strut about in sin.
  Young men scorn honor
  And flaunt their depravity.
  The people do not love Sundays Or feasts and old traditions;
  Churches are vacant on festal days,
  Standing like deserted caves:
  Empty are churches;
  empty are souls.
  Dark lawlessness reigns everywhere.
  Shame irritates and vexes me because of the sins of my people,
  Because Thou keepest me near to Thee.
  These are the reasons I weep, dear Savior.
  Eternity is too brief for my lament.
  Rather would I be in hell…
  If only the Serbs would return to Thee!

In peace, the Lord heard Savas grieving;
Then lifted He His holy head.
His thoughts shook the heavens.
Lightning and thunder flashed
As dark clouds rushed in;
Hail fell on St. Peters Day,
And all of the Serbian land was whitened,
Like the leprous face of a harlot.
The Serbs lamented in their distress,
But the Living God they did not remember—
They did not recall God or their sins.
Saint Sava stayed kneeling,
His face ashen with terror.
9

Then the Lord bridled the clouds;
Rain and dew ceased to fall.
The once mild sun blazed,
And the Serbian land shriveled.
Rivers and streams dried up;
Deep wells failed.
The Serbs cried out in their distress,
But the Living God they did not remember-
They forgot God and their sins,
And Saint Sava remained kneeling,
His face pale with terror.
10.

Next, the Lord sent forth lice
To cover the fruit trees.
The hungry insects consumed plums and apples,
Blighting the cultivated orchards
All over the once lovely land.
The Serbs clamored in their distress,
Yet the Living God they did not remember—
They forgot God and their sins,
Yet Saint Sava was still kneeling,
His pale face lined with terror…
11.

Then the Lord loosed death
To slay both old and young.
Cruel diseases reached everywhere.
Many died; cemeteries were crowded,
But gravediggers were few,
And their arms grew weary.
The Serbs still lamented in their distress,
Not remembering the Living God,
Forgetting their sins.
And Saint Sava continued kneeling,
Terror fixed on his pale face.
12.

Then the Lord withheld the crisis.
The land filled with abundance,
But the people shouted:
“There is nothing to be had—anywhere!”
Serbs, ever lamenting in their distress,
Remembered neither the Living God nor their sins,
As Saint Sava remained kneeling,
His face pale with terror.
To be continued on the next post… Michael

 

[Traditional_Ang]

…Continued from previous post

From AMERICA… What is in store for you… and the world!
apostle1.com/america_end_times1-09-30-2004.htm
The Lord unbound Satan
And loosed him from hell upon the Serbs,
That he might do his own will for a time,
Do what he liked with the country
And the bodies of its people.
But God forbade him to touch their souls.
Satan raised armies,
Raised up his beasts and men,
All of them enemies of God,
But one in mind with himself,
Of whom beasts would be ashamed,
Beside whom wild boars would be disgraced.
Satan armed them with fires of hell,
Setting them against the Serbian land.
14

Fires roared forth from hell’s gate,
And Satan ignited the house of the Serb.
He destroyed all that had been built,
Devoured all that had been kneaded,
Carried away all that had been woven,
Plundered all that had been saved,
Squandered all that had been stored,
And spat on all that was sanctified.
Nobles he bound in chains,
And hanged the leading men
Or starved them in prisons.
He killed young men and
Shrouded maidens in mourning.
He gathered mothers above cradles,
Over cradles bloody and empty.
He bound the tongue of the Serb,
Not permitting him to sing, to cry,
Or to pronounce the Name of God,
Not permitting him to consider his brother a brother.
He bound the legs of the Serb
So that he could not walk freely,
But only so far as his binding cord allowed,
As far as the rifle butt pushed him.
And Satan bound the arms of the Serb,
So that he could not work freely,
But only at forced labor.
He could not sit nor eat bread
Without Satan’s proud command.
He could not consider his children his own,
Nor freely think . . . freely breathe.
15

Thus it continued for a long time,
Until the Serbian land swelled
With the bodies of its dead,
With the blood of Serbian martyrs,
Like a dough made with potent leaven.
Then God’s Angels began to weep,
And the Serbs turned to God,
Their only Friend,
Their One True Savior;
They turned to the Most High God
And to Saint Sava.
At this, Sava trembled with horror.
Leaping up, he cried out in a loud voice:
“Enough, O Lord! Spare those who remain!”
And the Lord heeded Sava:
He took pity on the Serbian slaves,
And forgave them their sins.
16

The face of the Serb brightened;
Bells rang joyfully.
The land was fragrant with incense;
The Truth of Christ shone brightly.
Charity and honesty reigned;
Angels descended from heaven
To embrace the Serbian land.
17

Oh, listen!
What is that sound from afar?
The Divine Liturgy is being celebrated In Christ’s Heavenly Kingdom.
St. Sava celebrates
And with him serve three hundred bishops,
Along with three thousand priests.
Archdeacon Stephen serves
And with him Habakkuk,
[New Martyr Deacon Habakkuk of Serbia,
martyred by the Turks in 1814.]
Who had been impaled as Christ’s martyr On a lawn in the midst of Belgrade.
The King of Glory sits upon His throne,
While, like the sound of a mighty storm,
There resounds from earth the Serbian shout: Alleluia!
Blessed is the mother who bore Sava,
And blessed are the Serbs so long as he guides them.
“The Heavenly Liturgy” translated from Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, Collected Works (Diisseldorf, Germany: Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western Europe, 1978), vol. 2, pp. 592-99 (in Serbian). Translated by Rev. Fr. Gregory Allard, parish priest at St. Alexis Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church in Lafayette, Indiana, and Rev. Fr. Dragan Petrovic, parish priest at St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church in Indianap olis, Indiana.

I ask all to reread this after reading the Orthodox website’s introduction, and then to pray for our country. I don’t think the Lord is going to continue to ignore our continued slaughter of the innocent and our other offences against His Holy Law. “Those whom the Lord loves He chastises.”

Your Brother in Christ, Michael

 

[Caesar]

Very beautiful. Thank you for that.

I often find that a traditional Liturgy is Heaven on Earth. This poem brings many emotions out of me.