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Nicholas (Velimirović) of Žiča

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Life: add'l note
[[Image:StNikolaiVelimirovich.jpg|thumb|right|St. Nikolai Velimirovich (1880-1956)]]
{{orthodoxyinamerica}}
Our father among the saints, [[BishopSaint]] '''Nikolaj Velimirović''' (Николај Велимировић, [[January 5]], 1880 - [[March 18]], 1956, also rendered ''Nicholas'') was bishop of Žiča in Serbia and the author of several many Orthodox books. His most widely-known work is the ''[[Prologue from Ohrid]]''. His first name is pronounced and sometimes written ''Nikolai''.
==Life==
Nikolaj Velimirović was born in the small village of Lelich in Western Serbia. He attended the Seminary of St. Sava in Belgrade and graduated in 1905. He obtained doctorates from the University old-catholic faculty of theology of Berne (1908), while the thesis was published in German in 1910, whereas the doctor's degree in philosophy was prepared at Oxford and defended in Geneva (''Filosofija Berklija'' - ''Berkeley's Philosophy'', in French) in 1909. At the end of 1909 he entered a [[monasticism|monastic ]] orderand was ordained a priest the same day. He received the title of archimandrite in 1910 and was named in 1911 an assistant professor in St. Sava Seminary in Belgrade. In 1919, then he was [[Archimandriteconsecration of a bishop|consecrated]] Nikolai was consecrated Bishop of Žiča in the [[Church of Serbia]].
In April 1915 (during WWI) he was delegated to England and America by the Serbian Church, where he held numerous lectures, fighting for the unison of the Serbs and South Slavic peoples. At the beginning of 1919 he returned to Serbia, and in 1920 was posted to the Ohrid archbishopric in Macedonia, where in 1935, in Bitola he reconstructed the cemetery of the killed German soldiers.
On [[December 14]], 1944 he was sent to Dachau, together with Serbian [[Patriarch]] Gavrilo, where some sources, especially the standard Church references, record that he suffered both imprisonment and torture.[http://www.serfes.org/lives/holyhierarchsaintnicholai.htm]
After the War he left Communist Yugoslavia and immigrated as a refugee to the United States in 1946 where he taught at several Orthodox Christian [[seminary|seminaries]] such as [[St. Sava's Serbian Orthodox Seminary (Libertyville, Illinois)|St. Sava's Serbian Orthodox Seminary]] in Libertyville, Illinois and [[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)|St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary]] and Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania (where he was [[rector]] and also where he died) and [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)|St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary]] now in Crestwood, New York. During his time teaching at St. Vladimir's, he was very involved with the life of [[St. Sava Cathedral (New York, New York)|St. Sava Cathedral in New York City]]. He died on [[March 18]], 1956.
==Alleged Anti-Semitism==
Although recently [[Glorification|glorified]] as a saint by the [[Church of Serbia]], some of his writings remain highly controversial. Nikolaj Velimirovic was allegedly anti-semitic and he is supposed to have approved of the holocaust. (See Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic: ''Addresses to the Serbian People—Through the Prison Window''. Himmelsthur, Germany: Serbian Orthodox Eparchy for Western Europe, 1985, pp. 161-162). Others regard his address from Dachau as having been under duress[http://www.balkan-archive.org.yu/kosta/pisma/l-serbs.are.new.jews.html][http://www.balkan-archive.org.yu/kosta/pisma/l-a.little.more.truth.html] and point to the lack of other anti-semitic statements in the rest of his large corpus of writings. He is recorded variously to have said that the Jews "crucified [[Christ]]," but such a statement is historically no different from that in the [[Bible]] or what [[Christians]] have been saying for centuries.
Others regard his address from Dachau as having been under duress[http://www.balkan-archive.org.yu/kosta/pisma/l-serbs.are.new.jews.html][http://www.balkan-archive.org.yu/kosta/pisma/l-a.little.more.truth.html] and point to the lack of other anti-semitic statements in the rest of his large corpus of writings. He is recorded variously to have said that the Jews "crucified [[Christ]]," but such a statement is historically no different from that in the [[Bible]] or what Christians have been saying for centuries, which is more an allegation of historical fact rather than the racism which is the heart of anti-semitism. ==[[Glorification]]==
On [[May 19]], 2003, the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with one heart and one voice, unanimously decided to enter Bishop Nicholai (Velimirovic) of Ohrid and Ziča into the calendar of saints of our Holy Orthodox Church.
St. Nikolai Velimirovich is often referred to as Serbia's New Chrysostom. St. [[John Maximovitch]], who had been a young instructor at a seminary in Bishop Nikolai's [[diocese ]] of Ohrid, called him "a great saint and Chrysostom of our day [whose] significance for Orthodoxy in our time can be compared only with that of Metropolitan [[Anthony [(Khrapovitsky) of Kiev|Anthony (Khrapovitsky)]]. ... They were both universal teachers of the Orthodox Church."
{{start box}}
after=Jefrem (Bojović)}}
{{succession|
before=?Chrysostom (Kavourides), Metropolitan of Pelagonia|
title=Bishop of Ohrid|
years=1920-1929|
==Works==
The complete works of St. Nikolai Velimirovich have been published in twenty-three volumes by the publishing house Glas Crkve in Valjevo (Serbia).
 
===Prayers===
*[http://www.sv-luka.org/praylake/index.htm '''Prayers by the Lake'''] (1922), One hundred prayers by St Nikolai <ref>Copyright ©2004 [http://store.holycrossbookstore.com/prbylabbiniv.html Holy Cross Bookstore Online]</ref>.
 
===Books===
*''Beyond Sin and Death'' (1914)
===Articles===
*"[[http://s3.amazonaws.com/orthodox/WhyVigilLampsLitBeforeIcons.pdf Why are Vigil Lamps lit before Icons?]]"(PDF)
* [http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/VelimirovichBlessEnemies.shtml Quotation: Bless My Enemies O Lord -- by Bp. Nikolai Velimirovich]
* [http://orthodox.cn/saints/nikolaivelimirovich/1934-38littlemissionary_en.htm The Chinese Martyrs by Saint Nikolai Velimirovich] (Little Missionary, 1934 — 1938)
 
==Notes==
<small><references/></small>
==External links==
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/author/Nikolai_Velimirovic Works by Nikolai Velimirovic] from Project Gutenberg
*[http://www.rferl.org/reports/eepreport/2004/02/4-180204.asp East European Perspectives, Article by J. Byford]
* Life of Bishop Nicholai (Velimirovich) in ''Portraits of American Saints'', Compiled and Edited by George A. Gray and Jan V. Bear, Diocese Council and Department of Missions Diocese of the West Orthodox Church in America, 650 Micheltorena Street, Los AnglesAngeles, California, 1994, pp. 74-77 (Quoted at [http://www.serfes.org/lives/holyhierarchsaintnicholai.htm Serfes.org])
[[Category:American Saints]]
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Žiča]]
[[Category:Bishops of Ohrid-Bitola]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Modern Writers]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Serbian Saints]]
[[Category:Modern Saints]]
[[Category:20th-century saints]]
[[ro:Nicolae (Velimirovici)]]
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