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Manasija Monastery: A History

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The humble Archimandrite Kirilo Vukelić, having run the good race, fell asleep in the Lord in 1896; in that year the superior of Bođani and abbot of Kovilj, Miron Đorđević, was appointed abbot of Manasija.151 During his administration of the monastery, two saints who suffered in the Second World War as hieromartyrs - confessors of the Orthodox faith - received the monastic tonsure in Manasija: in 1897 the hieromonk Rafailo of Šišatovac (Momčilović, 1875– 1941), numbered among the saints, was tonsured a monk in Manasija,152 and in the following year, 1898, the theology student Dragutin Vasić was tonsured a monk in Manasija Monastery, taking the monastic name Dositej; he is known today as Saint Dositej the Confessor, Metropolitan of Zagreb (1877–1945).153 In the same year King Aleksandar Obrenović (1876–1903) gave Manasija Monastery a large bell weighing 1,800 kilograms, which was placed on the belfry in a tower of the Manasija fortress.154 This bell was consecrated by Metropolitan Inokentije Pavlović of Belgrade (1840– 1905) on Sunday, October 4, 1898.155 According to a report that appeared in the press, in 1899 Metropolitan Inokentije of Belgrade intended to turn Manasija Monastery into a women's monastery, wishing in this way to restore female monasticism156 (which had practically died out in the period of Turkish rule - it was restored only after the First World War). This, however, did not happen. In 1901/1902, together with Archimandrite Miron, the hieromonks Ilarion and Dositej and the monk Venijamin shared the monastic struggle in Manasija Monastery.157 In 1903 the Manasija monastic community consisted, besides Archimandrite Miron, of the hieromonks Ilarion and Dositej (Vasić), a student of the Theological Academy in Russia, as well as the hierodeacon Venijamin.158 In the following year, 1904, there were in the Manasija brotherhood, besides Đorđević, four more hieromonks - Joanikije, Nestor, Miron and Dositej (a student of the Theological Academy in Russia) - and the hierodeacon Venijamin.159 Archimandrite Miron moved to Kosovo in that same year, 1904, and in the years that followed he was active in the lands of Kosovo and Metohija.160 It is not clear who succeeded Archimandrite Miron as abbot of Manasija, or when. The literature mentions that for a time the church registers of Manasija were kept by the priest Aćim Protić, up until 1918.161

At the beginning of the 20th century, conditions in Manasija Monastery were probably irregular, as may be assumed on the basis of the scant data we encounter in the literature. In 1905 the temporary superior of Manasija Monastery was the sinđel Ruvim, and the brotherhood consisted of the hieromonks Nestor and Dositej, a student at the University of Leipzig.162

  1. Miron Đorđević (?–1911) was a native of Modošac, that is, of the Banat village of Modoš (today Jaša Tomić). At baptism he received the name Marko. After completing the seminary, he entered the monastery of Kovilj as a novice in 1875; he received the monastic tonsure in 1876, taking the name Miron. German Anđelić (1822–1888), at that time Bishop of Bačka (later Metropolitan of Karlovci), ordained the monk Miron hierodeacon in Kovilj on May 12, 1876, and in the same year, on the feast of the Kovilj patron, the Holy Archangel Gabriel, July 13, Bishop German ordained Miron to the rank of hieromonk and soon appointed him deputy of the Kovilj community. Miron became abbot of Kovilj in 1886 (cf. Đorđević, The History of the Saint Sava Monastery of Kovilj, Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, in the God-Protected Eparchy of Bačka, 232–233), and in addition he performed the duties of superior of the monastery of Bođani in the period from 1893 to 1896 (cf. Mata Kosovac (ed.), The Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci According to Data from 1905 (Српска православна митрополија карловачка по подацима од 1905. год.). (Karlovci: Saborski odbor, 1910), 184). Like the previous abbots of Manasija, Gerasim, Evgenije and Kiril, Miron too was a lover of books: he was a subscribing member of the Srpska književna zadruga (cf. The Srpska književna zadruga in 1899. Annual Report. Proceedings of the Seventh Regular Assembly. Register of Benefactors, Founders and Subscribing Members. Register of Founders (Српска књижевна задруга у 1899. години. Годишњи извештај) (Belgrade: Srpska književna zadruga, 1900), 49), and it is known that he subscribed to several publications; as an admirer of the person and work of Archimandrite Jovan Rajić (1726–1801), he planned to publish a biography of Rajić and took part in launching an initiative to print Rajić's collected works (cf. Čedomir Denić, "Views on the Work of Jovan Rajić" („Погледи на дело Јована Рајића"), Zbornik Matice srpske za istoriju, no. 54 (1996): 39–85: 72–73, 77). Besides his notable monograph on the monastery of Kovilj, as abbot of Kovilj Miron Đorđević also published several of his homilies (cf. [Miron Đorđević], "Homily on the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs (Delivered in the Almaška Church in Novi Sad by Miron Đorđević, Abbot of the Monastery of Kovilj)" („Беседа на Св. Три Јерарха"), Glas istine: A Journal for Church Preaching, Christian Instruction, Spiritual Literature, Biographies, Antiquities and Orthodox Church and National Needs, year IV, no. 4 (February 28, 1887): 50–53; [Miron Đorđević], Funeral Homily Delivered at the Funeral Service of His Grace Bishop Vasilijan Petrović of Bačka by Miron, Abbot of Kovilj (Надгробна беседа коју је на опелу преосвештеног Епископа бачког Василијана Петровића говорио игуман ковиљски Мирон) (Novi Sad: Štamparija dr Pavlovića i Jocića, 1891); [Miron Đorđević], Funeral Address at the Burial of Sergije Šakrak-Ninić. Delivered by Miron Đorđević (Надгробна реч на погребу Сергија Шакрак-Нинића) [reprinted from the newspaper Naše doba] (Novi Sad: Srpska manastirska štamparija, [1893]) [there are claims that the author of the homily in the offprint reprinted from the newspaper Naše doba is another Archimandrite Miron Đorđević (1852–1895) - cf. Branka Pražić, "A Bibliography of the Publications of the Serbian Monastery Printing House, 1893–1900" („Библиографија издања Српске манастирске штампарије 1893–1900"), Korak biblioteke: A Journal for Culture and Library and Information Science, no. 6 (2021): 56–132: 80; however, the author of the homily is most likely the abbot of Kovilj, Miron, who delivered the funeral oration at the funeral service of his friend, the sinđel Sergije Šakrak- Ninić (1860–1893) - cf. O. S. P., "Sergije Šakrak-Ninić, Patriarchal Sinđel, Editor of 'Srpski Sion', Member of 'Matica', Member of the Literary Department, etc." („Сергије Шакрак-Нинић, патр. синђел, уредник 'Српског Сиона'..."), Bosansko-hercegovački istočnik: A Monthly Spiritual Journal for the Church and Educational Needs of the Serbian Orthodox Clergy, year VII, no. 9 (September 1893): 429–430: 430; M. "† Sergije Šakrak-Ninić" („† Сергије Шакрак-Нинић"), Srpski Sion: Weekly Journal for the Church, Educational and Autonomous Needs of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci, year III, no. 37 (September 12, 1893): 581–583: 583]). As abbot of Manasija Monastery, he published a text on the Battle of Čegar ("They Perished One for Another, They Fell One beside Another" („Изгибоше један за другога, падоше један крај другога"), Vitez: A Journal for Serbian Chivalry and Economy, year XI (1899): 24 - according to Ljubomir Durković [Jakšić], "A Description of the Ruins of the Monastery of Sopoćani from 1904" („Опис рушевина манастира Сопоћана из 1904. године"), Glasnik: Official Journal of the Serbian Orthodox Church, year LXV, no. 12 (December 1, 1984): 262–268: 263). From Đorđević's later writings, his letters of congratulation to Patriarch Georgije Branković (1830–1907) and to Metropolitan Nićifor Perić of Raška and Prizren (1862–1918) are known (cf. Memorial Volume on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Priestly Service of His Holiness Georgije Branković, Archbishop of Karlovci, Metropolitan and Serbian Patriarch, 1855–1905 (Споменица о педесетогодишњици свештеничке службе Његове Светости Георгија Бранковића). (Sr. Karlovci: Srpska manastirska štamparija, 1906), 273; Sava Stojanović (ed.), Memorial Volume on the Twenty-Five Years of Priestly Service of His Eminence Lord Nićifor, Metropolitan of Raška and Prizren, Exarch of Upper Moesia, etc., etc (Споменица двадесетпетогодишње свештеничке службе Њ. Високопреосвештенства господина Нићифора). (Belgrade: Narodna štamparija, 1906), 29). It appears that Archimandrite Miron Đorđević also had technical training - if he is the author of the drawing of the plan of the monastery of Sopoćani preserved in his report of 1904 (cf. Durković [Jakšić], "A Description of the Ruins of the Monastery of Sopoćani from 1904," 264). Đorđević was raised to archimandrite as abbot of Manasija Monastery in 1901 (cf. "Archimandrite Miron Đorđević" („Архимандрит Мирон Ђорђевић"), Srpski Sion: Weekly Journal for the Church, Educational and Autonomous Needs of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci, year XI, no. 51 (Sunday, December 23, 1901): 856). Soon, already in 1904, Archimandrite Miron moved to Kosovo, into the service of Metropolitan Nićifor of Raška and Prizren. In Kosovo he was first in the monastery of Dečani, and then, from November 1904 at the latest, he served as superior of the monastery of the Patriarchate of Peć, and from 1907, as protosyncellus, as president of the Spiritual Court of the Metropolitanate of Raška and Prizren in Priština. Finally he was appointed superior of the monastery of Gračanica, where he spent the last years of his life and fell asleep in the Lord in 1911 (cf. Durković [Jakšić], "A Description of the Ruins of the Monastery of Sopoćani from 1904," 262–264; Radovan Pilipović, "The Restoration of the Monastery of Sopoćani, 1938–1940" („Обнова манастира Сопоћани 1938–1940. године"), Baština, no. 22 (2007): 183–192: 184; Ivana Ženarju Rajović, Church Art of the 19th Century in the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren (1839–1912) (Црквена уметност XIX века у Рашко-призренској епархији (1839–1912)) (Leposavić - Priština: Institute for Serbian Culture, 2016), 51, 213). Various assessments of the personality of Archimandrite Miron Đorđević are found in the literature, especially in the press; on the other hand, historians consider that he was gifted and zealous, and that his works show that he was a great and worthy man - cf. Durković [Jakšić], "A Description of the Ruins of the Monastery of Sopoćani from 1904," 262–264; Pilipović, "The Restoration of the Monastery of Sopoćani, 1938–1940," 184.
  2. Saint Rafailo of Šišatovac was born in 1875 in Deronje in Bačka. At baptism he received the name Georgije. After finishing primary school, he spent several years as a monastery pupil in the monasteries of Kovilj and Bođani, learning to paint. He moved to Manasija Monastery with abbot Miron and in 1897 was tonsured a monk under the name Rafailo; he was soon ordained hierodeacon, and hieromonk in 1898. In the same year the Holy Synod sent him to Russia to study painting, and Rafailo continued his monastic life serving at the Serbian Metochion in Moscow. He spent three years there. After Russia, he spent some time in Italy, in Rome and Venice, perfecting his painting. He returned to Serbia at the beginning of the 20th century and was a member of the brotherhoods of the monasteries of Rakovica, Bukovo and Kovilj; from 1935 he was received into the brotherhood of the monastery of Šišatovac, and three years later he was elected superior - abbot of the Šišatovac community. When the Second World War began, all the monasteries of Fruška Gora were plundered, and the monks were persecuted, arrested, killed... Abbot Rafailo of Šišatovac was arrested on August 25, 1941, tortured and abused; with five broken ribs and covered in wounds, he reposed from the effects of the torture on September 3 (cf. Atanasije Jevtić, "The Martyrdom of Abbot Rafailo of Šišatovac" („Мученичко страдање игумана Рафаила Шишатовачког"), in: The Monastery of Šišatovac: Collected Papers (Манастир Шишатовац: зборник радова), ed. Dinko Davidov and Nikola Tasić. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Special Editions, Institute for Balkan Studies, vol. 38 (Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts - Institute for Balkan Studies of SASA - Society of Art Historians of Serbia; [Novi Sad]: Matica srpska, 1989), 423–432). The memory of the Holy Hieromartyr Rafailo of Šišatovac is celebrated on the day of his martyrdom - September 3/August 21. The hieromonk Rafailo painted the iconostases in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Velika Krsna (901– 1902), in the monastery of Rakovica (1905–1906), the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in the village of Sikole (1908), the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Pačir, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Gornji Kovilj (1908–1910), the Ružica Church in Belgrade (1925–1926), etc. He also painted a large number of individual icons, as well as portraits of Church dignitaries and other works; among other things, he also painted impressionist landscapes, with which he took part in numerous exhibitions. Cf. Uglješa Rajčević, "Rafailo Momčilović (1875–1941)" („Рафаило Момчиловић (1875–1941)"), Zbornik [Matice srpske] za likovne umetnosti, vol. 20 (1984): 117–154 + Pl. I–IV; Uglješa Rajčević, Rafailo (Georgije) Momčilović: Monk, Painter and Martyr (1875–1941) (Рафаило (Георгије) Момчиловић: монах, сликар и мученик (1875–1941)) (Belgrade: Itaka, 1998).
  3. Saint Dositej of Zagreb the Confessor was born Dragutin Vasić in 1877 in Belgrade. In his native city he received his primary, gymnasium and theological education in Belgrade. He was tonsured a monk in Manasija Monastery as a seminary student, and soon ordained hierodeacon and then hieromonk. He continued his education at the Kyiv Theological Academy, where in 1904 he obtained the degree of Master of Theology. He then spent two years at the University of Berlin, studying the theological and philosophical sciences, after which he continued his studies of philosophy in Leipzig. In the period from 1907 to 1909 he was a professor at the Saint Sava Seminary in Belgrade. As a scholarship holder of the Ministry of Education and Church Affairs, he pursued further studies in Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne and the School of Advanced Social Studies. During his stay in France he became acquainted with Roman Catholic theology and Church organization. Between 1910 and 1912 he continued his studies in Geneva. During the war with Turkey in 1912 he devoted himself to caring for the wounded. In May 1913 he was elected and consecrated bishop of the Eparchy of Niš. During the First World War, Dositej was particularly engaged in providing aid to the endangered population. When Serbia was occupied in 1915, he remained in Niš with the people. He was interned in Bulgaria, where he suffered great hardships and hunger. He returned to his eparchy in 1918, after the capitulation of Bulgaria. Between 1920 and 1925 he was the representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Czechoslovakia. In the interwar period he gained renown as one of the leading Serbian bishops, often taking part in the work of the Holy Synod. He was administrator of several eparchies and stood in for Serbian Patriarch Varnava (1880–1937) during his illness and after his death. He was elected the first Metropolitan of Zagreb in 1932. As an envoy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he took part in international meetings in Geneva, Basel, Athens and Bulgaria, and during 1936 and 1937 he stayed in India. During the Second World War he was arrested in Zagreb and subjected to severe torture. The Germans transferred him, unconscious and covered in wounds, to Belgrade, where he was first held in prison. Because of his poor health he was moved to a sanatorium, and later to home care. He spent his last days in the Vavedenje Monastery in Belgrade, where he fell asleep in the Lord on January 13, 1945. The memory of Saint Dositej the Confessor is celebrated on January 13/December 31. Besides Serbian, Dositej Vasić spoke Russian, Czech, German and French fluently; during his captivity he also learned Bulgarian, and he had a good knowledge of English as well. On Saint Dositej, cf. Pavle Kondić (ed.), Faithful to Christ unto Death: The Hieroconfessor Dositej of Zagreb and Vavedenje (Христу веран до смрти: Свештеноисповедник Доситеј, загребачки и ваведењски) (Belgrade: Publishing Fund of the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovci; Cetinje: Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral - Svetigora, 2008); Saša Antonijević, "Bishop Dositej (Vasić)" („Владика Доситеј (Васић)"), Kalenić: Publication of the Eparchy of Šumadija, year XXXI, no. 3, (183) (2009): 27–29; Željko Perović (ed.), Christ Is Our Peace, My Golden Apples. The Life and Teachings of the Hieromartyr Dositej Vasić (Христос је наш мир, златне јабуке моје. Живот и поуке Свештеномученика Доситеја Васића) (Divljana: Monastery of Saint Demetrius, 2016); Dalibor Midić, Servant of Peace and Love, Saint Dositej the Confessor: Bishop of Niš and Metropolitan of Zagreb (1878–1945) (Служитељ мира и љубави Свети Исповедник Доситеј: Епископ нишки и Митрополит загребачки (1878–1945)) (Niš: Orthodox Eparchy of Niš, 2020).
  4. Cf. "News from Home and Abroad" („Вести из места и са стране"), Zastava: Organ of the Serbian National Radical Party, year XXXIII, no. 23 [national issue 7] (Friday, February 13, 1898): 4; "Manasija Monastery," Srpski Sion: Weekly Journal for the Church, Educational and Autonomous Needs of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci, year VIII, no. 23 (Sunday, June 7, 1898): 365.
  5. Cf. "A Celebration in the Mon[astery]. of Manasija" („Светковина у ман[астиру]. Манасији"), Srpski Sion: Weekly Journal for the Church, Educational and Autonomous Needs of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci, year VIII, no. 41 (Sunday, October 11, 1898): 664.
  6. Cf. "Notes. Education. A Women's Monastery" („Белешке. Просвета. Женски манастир"), Ženski svet: Journal of the Charitable Cooperatives of Serbian Women, year XIV, no. 2 (February 1, 1899): 28.
  7. Cf. State Calendar of the Kingdom of Serbia for the Year 1902, Which Is a Common Year (Државни календар Краљевине Србије за годину 1902. која је проста) (Belgrade: State Printing House of the Kingdom of Serbia, 1902), 109.
  8. Cf. State Calendar of the Kingdom of Serbia for the Year 1903, Which Is a Common Year (Belgrade: State Printing House of the Kingdom of Serbia, 1903), 108.
  9. Cf. State Calendar of the Kingdom of Serbia for the Year 1904, Which Is a Leap Year (Belgrade: State Printing House of the Kingdom of Serbia, 1904), 99.
  10. Cf. Durković [Jakšić], "A Description of the Ruins of the Monastery of Sopoćani from 1904," 262–264; Pilipović, "The Restoration of the Monastery of Sopoćani, 1938–1940," 184; Ženarju Rajović, Church Art of the 19th Century in the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren (1839–1912), 50.
  11. Cf. Tomić, Monasteries and Churches in Upper Resava, 100.
  12. Cf. State Calendar of the Kingdom of Serbia for the Year 1905, Which Is a Common Year (Belgrade: State Printing House of the Kingdom of Serbia, 1905), 105.