Monthly Archives

November 2016

Learn to write the Cyrillic Alphabet at free course series at St. Sava Merrillville

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Learn the characters and sounds of the Cyrillic Alphabet at a free course series taking place at St. Sava Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, Indiana. The course is offered free of charge and is open to anyone who wishes to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, no previous experience with the Serbian language is required.

The hands-on part of the course series begins Thursday, Dec. 8 with sessions taking place every Thursday for 4 weeks but an informational history session to learn about the very beginnings of the Cyrillic Alphabet will take place Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the South Wing  Social Center in the St. Sava Church building.

This course is appropriate for anyone who wishes to learn the Cyrillic language. There is no previous experience with the Serbian language required. Some people may have learned conversational Serbian though talking with friends and family members, but they may not have had formal practice with writing the Cyrillic language so this class is a great introduction for Serbian and English speakers.

The class isn’t necessarily a class to teach how to speak the Serbian language, but some Serbian words will be introduced in the effort to learn to to write simple words to practice writing with the Cyrillic alphabet.

The emphasis is on learning the basics of Cyrillic writing. A book used for teaching the Cyrillic alphabet for elementary aged children learning to write with simple words like mama, tata (dad), deda (grandfather), etc. will be used.

Everyone is invited to attend this special series of workshops – there is no charge for the sessions. Children are invited to attend with family members so everyone can learn together.

Cyrillic Alphabet Learning Session Schedule

This first session about the history will take place in the South Wing Social Center. Other sessions will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the North Wing of the St. Sava Church building.

  • Thursday, Dec. 1 – History of the Cyrillic Alphabet
  • Thursday, Dec. 8 – Practice Session 1
  • Thursday, Dec. 15 – Practice Session 2
  • Thursday, Dec. 22 – Practice Session 3
  • Thursday, Dec. 29 – Practice Session 4

Nikola Loncar – Memory Eternal ✝ Vjecnaja Pamjat

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The Clergy, Executive Board, and Members of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church express condolences to the family of Nikola Loncar. Memory eternal.

Nikola Loncar age 95 of Hobart, IN passed away November 27, 2016.

Survived by his brother, Vlado Loncar, many nieces, nephews, Kumovi and dear friends. Preceded in death by his parents, Djurac and Jovanka Loncar; brothers: Spasoja and Stevan Loncar; and sisters: Mika Acic and Stana Vrakela.

Nikola retired from US Steel and fought in WWII as a freedom fighter for the Yugoslavian Army under General Draza Mihailovich. After the war he worked for the English Military Police before coming to the United States in 1950.

In 1966 Nikola was presented with the Commemorative War Cross in 1941-1945 of the Royal Yugoslav Army by King Peter II of Yugoslavia. He fought bravely for Christianity, the Orthodox Faith and Orthodox Church.

He was a dedicated member and benefactor of St. Sava Church since his arrival in the United States. Nikola was one of many Chetniks who volunteered during the building of St. Sava Church in Merrillville/Gary.

He was the last surviving Chetnik from St. Sava Church. He was also a member of the U.S.B.J.K.V. Draza Mihailovich Organization.

Nikola will be dearly missed by family and friends. He and his late brother Stevan never forgot their family in Yugoslavia after the war. They were always helping by providing living, education or medical expenses when needed.

May his memory be eternal.

Funeral service will take place Friday, December 2, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at Most Holy Mother of God Monastery Church in Grayslake, IL with Reverend Marko Matic and Reverend Bogdan Zjalic officiating. At rest, Most Holy Mother of God Cemetery.

Visitation will take place Thursday, December 1, 2016 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home, 7607 W. Lincoln Hwy., Schererville (Rt. 30 east of Cline Ave). Pomen prayer service at 7:00 p.m.

Free Presentation: Saints Cyril and Methodius and the Birth of the Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet – Thursday, Dec. 1

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15181566_10210688132057184_6938022243579265164_nLearn about the birth of the Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet at a special presentation taking place at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1 in the South Wing Social Center at St. Sava Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, Indiana.

According to tradition, the two Slavic scripts, Glagolitic and Cyrillic, were invented by the Byzantine Christian missionaries and brothers Cyril and Methodius in the 860s, amid the Christianization of the Slavs.

The presenters Ivana Stankovic, a voice, speech, and language pathologist, and Miodrag Djordjevic, engineer, will share their insights and research during this special bilingual presentation that is open to everyone in the community, free of charge.

Friday Night Zabava at St. Sava features DJ Spaz from Chicago – Nov. 25

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DJ Spaz from Chicago will be spinning the latest and greatest Serbian dance music along with the old school jams and kolos at the Friday Night Zabava Thanksgiving Weekend, November 25 in the Pavilion at St. Sava Serbian Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, IN 46410.

This is a special opportunity for Serbs throughout Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area to come together for a classic Zabava experience to celebrate a shared culture and friendships. It’s also a great opportunity for members of the community to visit to experience Serbian culture, music, and foods.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m., dinners and a cash bar will be available. Admission is $10 with free admission for all children under 12 years old.

Friday Night Zabava features DJ Spaz from Chicago at St. Sava Thanksgiving Weekend – Nov. 25

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DJ Spaz from Chicago will be spinning the latest and greatest Serbian dance music along with the old school jams and kolos at the Friday Night Zabava Thanksgiving Weekend, November 25 in the Pavilion at St. Sava Serbian Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, IN 46410.

This is a special opportunity for Serbs throughout Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area to come together for a classic Zabava experience to celebrate a shared culture and friendships. It’s also a great opportunity for members of the community to visit to experience Serbian culture, music, and foods.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m., dinners and a cash bar will be available. Admission is $10 with free admission for all children under 12 years old.

Father Marko Matic and Saint Sava Church receive special recognition by His Grace Bishop Longin

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His Grace Bishop Longin from the Diocese of New Gracanica and Midwestern America recently presented Father Marko Matic, parish priest at St. Sava Church in Merrillville, Indiana, with a cross signifying the rank of Stavrophor, the highest recognition for a priest serving in a parish in the Serbian Orthodox Church.

matic-stavrophor2

Click image to enlarge: Bishop Longin (center) is seen placing the pectoral cross on Father Marko Matic during a special ceremony Nov. 12, 2016.

The honor was presented Saturday, Nov. 12 during the Holy Liturgy which took place after a special Church blessing that was necessary following the recent floor renovations throughout the Church and before the offering of blessings at the groundbreaking for the new Orthodox Cemetery now under construction on the grounds at St. Sava Church.

Though the Bishop bestows the rank of Stavrophor upon the Priest as the spiritual leader, it is also a sign of recognition for the good work that is going on throughout the parish.

The word Stavrophor literally means “cross-bearer” and upon receiving this distinction a pectoral cross is worn by the priest on the chest, suspended from the neck by a cord or chain. During the ceremony His Grace Bishop Longin blessed the cross and placed it on Father Marko Matic.

The Stavrophor rank is awarded to a priest after many years of dedication and successful work in one or more parishes.

matic-stavrophor3

Click image to enlarge: Bishop Longin (far right) is seen with Father Marko Matic as he now wears the pectoral cross signifying “Stavrophor” immediately following the blessing.

This recognition was awarded to Father Marko Matic for the continual growth His Grace Bishop Longin has seen at St. Sava Church over the years, along with the supportive recommendations by members of the parish.

Father Marko Matic has served as parish priest at St. Sava for nearly a decade. During this time parishioners have continually sought to build a sense of community for celebrating culture and spirituality in the Orthodox Faith.

Evidence of this has been seen in recent years with the construction of the South Wing Social Center, Lower Level Sunday School Facilities, Soccer Fields, Pavilion Event Center, and the new Cemetery project. Further evidence can be seen with the establishment of the museum, its many exhibits, and  people relentlessly supporting the many special events, festivals, bake sales, youth programming, and spiritual observances.

Serbian Sisters Circle Annual Christmas Luncheon – Sunday, Dec. 4

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The Annual Christmas Luncheon for the Serbian Sisters Circle of St. Sava Church will take place Sunday, Dec. 4 at 12:30 p.m. at the Innsbrook Country Club located at 6701 Taft Street in Merrillville, IN.

This annual luncheon has been a tradition for years and it is an opportunity to celebrate the Christmas season, but to also honor and recognize the tireless work the women perform year round in support of St. Sava Church.

All women involved in Kolo are encouraged to attend, along with their guests. The luncheon is $20 per person. RSVP is required before November 23. Please call Mimi Orlich at 219-310-8044 or Donna Nicolich at 219-226-1758 as soon as possible to be included in this special event.

Friday Night Zabava Thanksgiving Weekend at St. Sava Merrillville – Friday, Nov. 25

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St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church will host a Friday Night Zabava Thanksgiving weekend, November 25 in the Pavilion at St. Sava, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, IN 46410.

The festivities will begin at 6:00 p.m. Friday night featuring music by DJ Spaz playing the best music all night for your favorite dances.

This is a special opportunity for Serbs throughout Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area to come together for a classic Zabava experience to celebrate a shared culture and friendships. It’s also a great opportunity for members of the community to visit to experience Serbian culture, music, and foods.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m., dinners and a cash bar will be available. Admission is $10 with free admission for all children under 12 years old.

 

Karageorge Choir of St. Sava collecting plastic caps for playground bench

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The Karageorge Choir at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church needs your hard plastic caps from various containers so they can be converted into a bench for the children’s playground located adjacent to the church building at 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, IN.

Hard plastic caps from many types of containers including water bottles, soda bottles, laundry soaps, juice boxes, or milk jugs are all suitable. A total of 400 pounds of these types of lids are required to purchase a bench that will be placed at the site of the playground.

Please save your lids and help Karageorge Choir collect enough so a bench can be in place by spring time. You can collect your lids and give them to any choir member.

Father Tom Kazich: Feast of St. Varnava, New Cemetery, Continuing a Mission

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The following are remarks shared by Father Tom Kazich during the luncheon taking place immediately following the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Orthodox Cemetery at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church November 12, 2016.

The day is also recognized as the annual Patron Saint Day of Saint Varnava, the first Serbian-American born person to be glorified a Saint in the Orthodox Church who had personal ties to this St. Sava parish.

Saints were ordinary people, sinners, who never gave up the battle

Sometimes we think that saints are somewhere up there in heaven.  We pray to them to intercede before God for us.  But we don’t always connect them to our own lives.  This past year, a visitor was standing in New Gracanica Church and marveling at the saintly images that cover the walls from the floor to the ceiling.  And he remarked, “We must never forget that the saints were ordinary people, sinners, who never gave up the battle.”  We can always look to them for intervention and inspiration.

We here in Gary St. Sava’s are blessed.  We don’t have to look any further for saints that have a link to us.  Born in Gary in 1914 Vojislav Nastic, who later became Bishop Varnava, was canonized by the Serbian Church in 2005.  This was the first Serbian American born to be glorified as a saint.  He was the first baby to be baptized at St. Sava’s Church in 1914.  When he was nine years old, he returned to Serbia with his family.

There he studied for the holy priesthood, was tonsured a monk, and later consecrated a bishop.  Both St. Bishop Nicholai and St. Fr. Justin Popovich were his mentors.  It was during WWII that he spoke out against the communists and for freedom – freedom of conscience, freedom to worship God, just like the old heroes of Kosovo.  He confessed Christ and suffered for the Truth and Righteousness of God’s Kingdom.  He was arrested, tried and sentenced to 11 years in prison.  He died in 1964 as a confessor.  He never forgot his roots and felt it was honorable to declare himself both an American and a Serbian.

St. Varnava, in his short lifetime of fifty years, somehow captured the width and depth of Christianity.  He breathed in the same spirit of those fearless witnesses of Christ from the early Christian period, living in the sea of paganism.  His asceticism gave him energy which was no different from the early monks who went into the desert to preserve the strength of Christianity.  He was rooted in the Serbian lands, and the historic stream of Svetosavlje flowed through him, even though he was born outside of the country.

Finally he adapted the same love of freedom that the Serbs showed on Kosovo Field, with the freedom he breathed in the American land of his birth.  That freedom which God instilled in every human being that He created in His “image and likeness” projected him into a much greater witness during and after WWII.  Standing up to Nazism, Communism,  and all other forms of dictatorship, he truly made Christ the center of his confession.  And lastly, through it all, he loved His Church, his people at Gary St. Sava’s,  and was truly the “conscience of the Church” in his times.

Feast of St. Varnava connections with St. Sava Church today

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Varnava.  And what makes our celebration so special is that many of the things you accomplished and are recognizing today were dear to St. Varnava.

1.  The Church Beautification

We know of Varnava’s love from a very young age of the church. There is that cute anecdote that tells of how in church on Sunday morning he soon tired of standing during the Liturgy. Becoming restless, he asked his father when the service would be over. “Now,” his father calmly told him.  Varnava waited obediently and patiently and asked again.  “Now” came the answer. He again waited and finally humbly asked “Daddy, when is now?”  He was already showing himself as a philosopher, as a theologian, and a lover of beauty of the church.

Everything that happens in the church is a miracle of God’s love and our cooperation.  Look how you have beautified St. Sava’s, with the installed new floor, carpet and lighting.   Thanks to all of you for taking care to beautify God’s house, under Fr. Marko’s leadership.  Each gift we offer or do out of love for God and His Church is acceptable and pleasing to God.

2.  The Cemetery Blessing

Varnava lived at a time in history where he was surrounded by wars and killings and death.  It’s no surprise that this always came up whenever he wrote someone.  “I not only hear voices of the living, but also greetings from the dead.  Greeting you are shadows of your forefathers whose shade falls on each foot of these bloody hills and  mountains.”

When we read the accounts of the early martyrs they speak of the great respect the faithful showed for those who had departed and were being buried.  That’s why we remember the departed continually in our church services.  We pray to God for their eternal rememberance.   With this cemetery, you here, though there are other cemeteries in the area, have chosen to declare your the love and connection between the the church and the departed.

This is a tradition that you rarely see anymore, except is the old churches in Europe and some here in America.  They always had a cemetery in back or on the side of the church, to show that the departed also are a part of our Church body, the Body of Christ.

Those responsible for this project are to be commended.  Especially we are happy that it will be open to all Orthodox.

3.  Finally the Museum

Varnava was so immersed in living history, that he referred to historic events as  everyday events in his  letters, and all this through the backdrop of Serbian history.  He says, “Do not forget that you are the offspring of the Prince of Kosovo, who sacrificed the earthly to gain the heavenly.  Do not forget either that you are the children of a nation that does not possess anything great for which it hasn’t paid the price of great sacrifice.”

Several years ago the Historical Society of St. Sava established a museum here.  St. Varnava is their Patron.  Over the years  we have seen wonderful exhibits highlighting  – Serbs in the Steels Mills, Serbian Weddings, Serbian Sisters Circle, Serbs in Sports, Serbs in the Military and many others.  When we preserve our history, then we have something that we can hand down to our children to build on for the future.

Continuing a mission

We all know that the saints are alive in Christ and they are here with us constantly whenever we need their help. You at St. Sava’s are living examples of this, through the recent projects of your church.  You have connected with St. Varnava in a unique way.  St. Varnava has you here continuing his work, in preserving the beauty of the church, protecting the history of the parish and people, and respecting those who have departed in a most important way.  You have continued his mission.

There’s still a lot more out there to do, to develop.  May we all strive to be numbered with God’s saints one day, and let’s fulfill the words we pray at every Divine Liturgy:  “With all the saints, let us commend ourselves and each other, and our whole life unto Christ our God.”