Fr. Marko is your host, providing an insight to Serb Fest 2013. Thanks to RTS correspondent Aleksandar Zigic for the great footage of our Srbadija Folklore Groups.
[youtube id=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56iBc4plPXo” width=”600″ height=”350″ autoplay=”no” api_params=”” class=””]Here’s the list of lucky winners – Congratulations to all winners and many Thanks to everyone who bought a raffle ticket! Thanks for supporting St. Sava Church!
Written by Chas Reilly chas.reilly@nwi.com, (219) 662-5324, of The Times and originally published at http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/serbian-church-to-honor-gary-born-st-varnava/article_59a68bb0-72af-5dc8-ba04-17adac7f2376.html
From his childhood in Gary to his death in Yugoslavia, St. Varnava always protected his faith and was dedicated to a Christian life.
St. Varnava is the first American-born Serbian to be proclaimed an Orthodox saint, said the Rev. Thomas Kazich, who also is a Gary native.
St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church will honor St. Varnava during a service at 6 p.m. Thursday at the church, 9191 Mississippi St., Merrillville. Kazich, with the Serbian Diocese of North America, and the Rev. Marko Matic, a priest at St. Sava, will be involved in the service.
“Not that many people know we have a saint in our neighborhood,” Matic said.
Varnava was born in Gary in 1914 and lived at a home near 12th Avenue and Madison Street, Kazich said.
Varnava, whose secular name was Vojislav Nastic, was the first person baptized at St. Sava when it was located in Gary.
“He grew up in a very spiritual family,” Matic said.
He also served as an alter boy at the church.
“He was at the services every Sunday,” Kazich said.
Varnava went to Froebel Elementary School while he and his family lived in Gary for about nine years. They moved Yugoslavia in 1923, Kazich said.
When he finished the equivalent of high school, Varnava’s father took him to see Bishop Nicholai Velimirovich to receive the bishop’s blessing to study theology.
“As (Varnava) wrote, ‘Theology is the science of sciences,’ ” Kazich said.
The bishop gave him his blessing, and he started his studies.
Kazich said Varnava’s family was influential in his upbringing in the church. He said everyone in the church has a spiritual guide, and “his spiritual father was his own father.”
Varnava was ordained a priest in the early 1940s, and the Serbian Church elected him to become a bishop in 1947, Kazich said.
Varnava began to preach against the Communist way of life after becoming a bishop, and Yugoslavia’s Communist government arrested him on treason charges.
During his trial, Varnava wasn’t allowed to deliver a final defense plea because “it was feared that he would expose and reveal the government’s criminal, terroristic and tyrannical policies,” according to a report written by Kazich.
In 1948, Varnava was sentenced to 11 years at one of the worst prisons at the time in Yugoslavia, Kazich said.
He spent about three years there, and the government intended to kill him when he was being transferred to another prison, Kazich said. He was placed on a train car with other prisoners, and the government ran another train into the car, he said.
Varnava survived the crash, but his legs were broken.
“And he suffered from that for the rest of his life,” Kazich said.
Due to health problems, Varnava was released from prison in 1951, but he always was under guard by the Communist government until he died in 1964.
Kazich said Varnava died under suspicious circumstances, and many believe he was poisoned. He said an autopsy couldn’t be conducted at the time.
Kazich said Varnava’s family knew he didn’t have a history of illness. He also wrote letters to them about his good health prior to his death.
No matter the circumstances, Varnava always remained “a follower of Christ,” Matic said.
“He became one of the strongest protectors of his faith,” he said.
Matic said Varnava remains an inspiration to many at the church.
“People still talk about him,” Matic said.
St. Varnava was canonized about five years ago.
Kazich said canonization in the Orthodox Church differs from the process used in the Catholic Church.
The process “begins locally, at the grass-roots level, perhaps where the holy person was born, lived and worked,” Kazich said.
“The love and veneration of the faithful spread to other areas,” he said. “The hierarchy of the local church then undertake to examine all records left by the person and if this proves satisfactory, then the last part of the act is performed and canonization is announced and a service of glorification takes place.”
The Clergy, Executive Board, and Members of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church express condolences to the family of Ella B. Kosanovic. Memory eternal.
Ella B. Kosanovic (nee Hofferber), age 91, of Merrillville, passed away on Friday, March 6, 2009 at Spring Mill Health Center.
Through most of her life, she was a very devout, active and generous member of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, and its Circle of Serbian Sisters. She and her late husband Mile were grand donors and great benefactors of St. Sava parish, and were equally as benevolent to the New Gracanica Diocese of Third Lake, IL.
She will be long remembered as “Kuma” of the main bell which was installed upon the construction of the new St. Sava church in Merrillville. In addition, Ella took an active part in numerous auxiliaries such as: “Karageorge” choir, Movement of Serbian Chetniks “Ravna Gora,” the Serbian National Defense Council and the former Serbian Pioneer Club.
After several years of dedicated service, she retired from U.S. Steel-Gary Works. Along with her husband Mile, she was preceded in death by her parents and several siblings. Ella is survived by her Kumovi, the Gajo Manolovich family. Also, numerous nieces, nephews and other Kumovi.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 9 AM Directly at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville with V. Rev. Jovan Todorovich, Rev. Marko Matic and other local clergy members officiating. Interment, New Gracanica Cemetery, Third Lake, IL.
Visitation will be Monday from 4-7 PM at Burns Funeral Home, 10101 Broadway, Crown Point, under Savich & Semplinski Directors. A Pomen Service will be offered at 7 PM, Monday. In lieu of flowers, memorials to St. Sava Church would be appreciated.
Three days of Serb Fest ended months of preparation by the members (all volunteers).
of our parish. 1110 strudels, 3964 sarmas, 3862 palachinke, 280 nut rolls, 1350 krofne 160 lambs, 1650 pounds of cevaps, countless raznici and muchkalize, chicken dinners, and thousands of freshly-baked goods were served up cheerfully over that long weekend. 64 kegs of beer also disappeared. The hard work paid off, and now it’s time to save for future building on our church grounds.
A special thank you goes out to the Kolo Sisters who worked for 2 months this past hot summer to prepare the sarmas, nut rolls, and strudels, on their feet for hours.
Their names are:
Smilja Andrich, Helen and Kathy Baroevich, Danica Beslic, Kay Bozich, Mary Christoff, Stana Djinovich, Olga Dotlich, Manda Andrejich Ellison, Lillian Galich, Tamara Galich, Rada Gaslich, Zorka Glumac, Millie Griggs, Xenia Jancarich, Millie Kokotovich, Marilyn Leach, Mary Magurean, Dorothy Majstorovich, Sophie Makivich, Popadija Vesna Matic, Radmila Milivojevic, Millie Moncilovich, Loretta Nickovich, Mara Pokrajac, Ann and Beba Rudman, Nada Samardzija, Violet Sekulich, Olga and Sandy Shinovich, Barbara Skala, Florence Stefanovich, Lynn Svilar, Carolyn Tomich, Dragica Trikich, Slobodanka Vasiljevich, and Polly Vrtikapa. Mike Suvajac was also a great help. Your commitment is greatly appreciated.
More photos from Serb Fest 2007 were sent by Mileva Savich.
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“Lucky” Gordon Gerbick wants to sell you a winning ticket for St. Sava’s Annual Building Fund Raffle. Did you know that statistically, Gordon has sold the most grand prize winners ever?
Of course, we encourage you to buy a ticket from anyone, but at least shake his hand for Good Luck! Last year’s Raffle helped make the dream of paying off the mortgage a reality. Now it’s time to look to the future, relocating once our Hall sells.
The drawing will be held at 9:00pm, Sunday, August 5th, at the hall on 49th. Tickets are $100.00, and you can even share a ticket.
Winner need not be present, call Vinko (219)972-3252 or Gordon (219)663-9188 for tickets. Checks accepted, payable to St. Sava Church.
If you see Gordon Gerbick this weekend, be sure to say “Hi, Lucky Gordon, nice hat!”
WANTED:
Historic photos, publications, books, documents, costumes, music recordings, films, artifacts, and memorabilia about St. Sava, Serbs, Gary, Yugoslavia, and Serbian culture.
We would like your help in gathering historical items for this year’s mini-museum at Serb Fest and future projects such as the up-coming library and temporary museum exhibits that will be displayed there. If you wish to donate original photos or publications, it would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, please allow us to copy them and return the originals within 14 days. We would also need as much information about the event as you can provide: Date, Location, Subject, and Names if you know them. Please write your name, address, phone along with the event info on a separate piece of paper and tape it to the back of the photo so you don’t cause any damage. We will credit you for providing the items.
Some of the topics we will be covering include:
Photos of events from our first church built in 1914, from 1300 Connecticut, old plays, programs, zabavas, concerts, style shows, Sunday School, St. Sava Day, banquets, Easter egg hunts, Serbian School, church office, holidays in Libertyville, picnics on 49th, (candy store, dances in the pavillion, kitchen), Serbian Day, Vidovdan in Chicago, individual photos of historical members (Sava Vrtikapa, Glisho), community events in which our church participated, construction of our facilities, political protests, and other topics of interest. The photos can be of groups or individuals.
Other topics of interest include: KOLO SESTARA and KARAGEORGE, formal events, kitchen scenes, bake sales, bus trips, charitable deeds, fundraisers, pioneers, ad books, programs, etc. FOLKLORE GROUP (especially early days-60’s, 70’s) Performances, groups, trips, books, programs, costumes, all or part, VIDEO, etc. BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS both SNF and Diocesan, teams or indiv., uniforms, trophies, photos, ad books, souvenirs, articles, etc. ATHLETES past to present, success in schools, college, professional, career. Any publications or memorabilia, honors, uniforms. CAMP-Libertyville or Gracanica, indiv. or group, talent shows, outings, priests, camp publications, etc. SERBS IN THE STEEL MILLS, and BUDD PLANT, photos, uniforms, equipment, badges, tools, documents, books, honors, publications. SERBS IN BUSINESS, small and large businesses, photos, documents, their success stories, articles, honors, accomplishments, etc. KING PETER, photos, articles, books, collectible memorabilia, etc. FATHER PETER, and all priests before him, photos, letters, articles, etc. SERBS IN THE MILITARY, both the U.S. ARMED FORCES and the YUGOSLAV ARMY and CHETNIKS, Prisoners of War, individual or group photos, documents, full or part uniforms, medals, honors, accessories, weapons, correspondence, books, flags, etc. DRAZA MIHAILOVICH, Art, photos, books, articles, records, documents, anything of historical interest. SERBIAN CELEBRITIES, Karl Malden, Danica Chirich, Nikola Tesla, any famous Serb. ST. SAVA TAMBURITZA ORCHESTRA, photos or memorabilia.
Contact the church office at (219) 736-9191 and ask for the museum committee members’ contact information.
Our new parish priest is Father Marko Matic. Father Matic’s first service will be on Sunday February 11, 2007.
Father Jovan Todorovich retired as our parish priest on January 31, 2007. A published copy of his last sermon is available by contacting the church office at 219-736-9191. Church office hours are 9am – 3pm Monday thru Friday CST.
The Clergy, Executive Board, and Members of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church express condolences to the family of Nichole M. Ivankovich. Memory eternal.
Nichole M. Ivankovich (nee Schaefer), age 29, of Portage, IN, passed away suddenly Saturday, January 6, 2007.
She was a loving wife and wonderful mother, daughter, sister and friend. Nichole truly loved being with children and was known as a special person who was enormously helpful to anyone in need. She was a member of St. Save Serbian Orthodox Church.
Nichole is survived by her beloved husband of seven years, Danny Ivankovich, Jr.; two children whom she totally adored: Lauren Daniel Ivankovich and Ryan Nicholas Ivankovich; dear parents: Al and Kathy Schaefer of Crown Point, IN; sister, Allison (fiance Bryon Nitcher) of Hobart, IN; brother, Jason (Emily) Schaefer of Hebron, IN; grandparents: Dan and Shirley Lang, Albert Schaefer, Patricia Kopp and “Baba” Mary Ivankovich; father-in-law, Danny (Mary Ann) Ivankovich; mother-in-law, Dawn (Jerry) Klemoff; special aunt, Mitzie Zakula and family; also many cousins, aunts, uncles, Kumovi, other relatives and lifelong friends.
Funeral services will be held Friday, January 12, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. DIRECTLY at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, IN with V. Rev. Jovan Todorovich officiating. Interment Calumet Park Cemetery, Merrillville, IN. Arrangements were completed by Savich & Semplinski Funeral Directors. Visitation will be Thursday from 2:00-8:00 p.m. at Burns Funeral Home, 10101 Broadway, Crown Point, IN. A Pomen Service will be offered at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.