Dositheus (Vasich) of Zagreb

Our father among the saints Dositej (Dositheus) the Confessor (Vasić) (Serbian Свети Исповједник Доситеј Загребачки) was the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan of Zagreb from 1931 to 1941. His feast day is December 31.

Life

Metr. Dositej was born in Belgrade on December 5, 1887. He went to grammar school and to seminary in Belgrade. In 1904, he graduated from the theological academy in Kiev with the degree of Magister of Theology. He then studied theology and philosophy for two years at Berlin University and also studied experimental philosophy in Leipzig. He took monastic vows and was ordained a hierodeacon when he was a seminary student. He was assigned the position of assistant professor at the St. Sava Seminary in Belgrade in 1907. Two years later, in 1909, he continued his studies at the Sorbonne, in Paris. At the end of 1910, he went to Geneva, where he remained until the declaration of the Balkan War.

As Bishop

In May 1913, the Holy Synod of Bishops elected him a bishop. On May 25, 1913, he was consecrated Bishop of Niš. Early in World War I, Bp. Dositej was interned, but he returned to his diocese in 1918. With peace, Bp. Dositej was elected vice-president of the Central Assembly of Bishops. He spent three years engaged in missionary work in Czechoslovakia. In 1931, he was appointed the first hierarch of the newly established Zagreb Diocese. He founded an Orthodox monastery dedicated to St. Paraskeva in Zagreb. He also administrated the Diocese of Gornji Karlovac-Banja Luka and helped Rt. Rev. Miron, the Bishop of Pakrac. During the terminal illness of Serbian Patr. Varnava, and as the senior member of the Holy Synod, he administered the affairs of the Serbian Church. After Patr. Varnava's death, and until the election of a new patriarch in 1938, Bp. Dositej administered the Belgrade-Karlovci Archdiocese.

Torture and Death

After World War II began, Metr. Dositej was arrested and confined by the Zagreb police in a prison on Petrinjska Street. Being seriously ill, he was transferred to a hospital, where he was tortured and molested by nuns. He was then transported, unconscious, to Belgrade and placed in the Monastery of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God, where the sisterhood of the monastery cared for him until he died from his injuries on January 13, 1945. He was buried in the churchyard of this monastery.

At the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the name of Metr. Dositej was entered into the list of names of saints of the Serbian Church as a Confessor.

Troparion

(Tone 8)

O Teacher of Orthodoxy and Instructor of virtues and purity, O Luminary of the whole world, O God-Inspired Ornament of Hierarchs, O Most-wise Dositej, you have enlightened all by your teaching; O Spiritual Flute, entreat Christ the Lord to save our souls.

Succession box: Dositheus (Vasich) of Zagreb
Preceded by: Jernim (Jovanović)	Bishop of Niš 1913-1931	Succeeded by: Dr. Jovan (Ilić)
Preceded by: new creation	Metropolitan of Zagreb 1931-1945	Succeeded by: Dr. Damaskin (Grdanički)

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External link

• The Holy Confessor Dositheus (Vasich), Metropolitan of Zagreb