In Bogdaj as in Paradise, in Bogdaj

Abstract

Over the Book “Bogdaj” Bitola. [For the publisher Tomislav Karadžić; consultant Mirjana Glišović; technical arrangement Dušan Solujić Sole]. Vraćevšnica [— Gornji Milanovac: Grafoprint], 2019. 158 pp. The charitable activity of Bishop Nicholai Velimirovich is little known. Although his work and service from the time before the First World War until the end of his life was associated with various charitable activities, his care for the needy and his engagement in the field of charity mostly escaped the attention of researchers, who focused their research firstly on his national work, dealing with the charitable dimensions of Velimirovich’s activities arrogantly, more often only lightly or not at all. However, the charitable activity of Bishop Nicholai Velimirovich was one of his primary activities, expressed in different ways: through efforts to collect humanitarian aid during World War I, then through the establishment of various charitable funds and societies, in the interwar period through the establishment of the church charities, feeding houses for the poor, homes for children, homes for the elderly — in dioceses where he served as a bishop and administrator, or in monasteries in his vicinity, and in the period after World War II especially through care for displaced persons and refugees (among other things through work in international church organizations), care for surviving prisoners of war and detainees who could not return to their homes, and especially through care for poor believers in the new Yugoslavia — expressed through his constant care to deliver humanitarian aid from the Western world to the unwilling in the homeland. The mentioned Bishop Nicholai’s activities have not been sufficiently researched, and it would be very interesting if in the future they would be the subject of a more thorough study, i.e. if the charitable aspect of Bishop Nicholai’s actions and ministry would be clarified. In a small number of publications and studies in which certain attention is paid to the charitable activity of Bishop Nicholai, however, several articles stand out about the Children’s Foster Home of St. Nicholas “Bogdaj,” which operated under the direction of Nadežda — in monasticism Ana — Adžić in Bitola from 1935 to the beginning of World War II in the area, i.e. until the occupation in 1941. In addition to texts and materials from churchly periodicals, the first notable publication dedicated to “Bogdaj” through which the public had the opportunity to learn about the existence and activities of this charity was the diary of mother Ana Adžić, published among the articles for the biography of Bishop Nicholai in the 1st volume of the Collected Works of Nicholai Velimirovich, i.e. in the 2nd edition of the 1st volume, printed in 2013. An interesting publication about “Bogdaj,” published in 2019, is coming from the Vraćevšnica monastery. This is the edition of the notebook of mother Ana Adžić, hegumenia of the Vraćevšnica monastery, who, as sister Nada, was invited by Bishop Nicholai in Bitola in 1935. She took over the management of the newly established Children’s Foster Home of St. Nicholas — “Bogdaj.” Namely, Sister Nada managed this institution until 1941, when after the outbreak of World War II and after the Bulgarian occupation, she had to leave Bitola. She later continued her humanitarian work and mission in Kraljevo and Trstenik. The Vraćevšnica sisterhood copied this notebook in 1976, thus preserving this valuable testimony from oblivion.