Nicholas Velimirovits (a general consideration of his personality and his work)

Abstract

Nicholas Velimirovich was the greatest ecclesiastical figure of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the 20th century. Saint Ioustinos Popovich named him the greatest Serb after Saint Sava. Nicholas was born on 23 December 1880 (Julian Calendar), feast day of St. Naum of Ohrid. After completing his studies at Tselige monastery, he was sent to Belgrade for his further education, where he enrolled in the School of Theology, and, later, he went to study in Switzerland and Oxford. On 20 December 1909, he became a monk and then went to St. Petersburg to continue his studies. On 12 March 1919, he was elected Bishop of Zitsa, while on 12 December 1920 he was transferred to the Diocese of Ohrid. In June 1934, he was re-elected Bishop of Zitsa. Nicholas Velimirovich was arrested by the Nazi Germans along with the Serb Patriarch Gabriel and was detained in Dachau. He passed away in 1956 in America. The Serbian Orthodox Church placed him in the diptychs of its Saints on 19 May 2003. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:Κανονικός πίνακας; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times New Roman; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}