8/3/2020
Archimandrite Jovan (Radosavlević)
“I don’t want to get involved with anyone from the authorities; I don’t want to get involved in their affairs, or ask for their services so I could later be lured by them; I don’t want to be ‘in their pocket.’ Therefore, I entreat you, watch yourself—what you do and say.”
Fr. Pavle stood out for his education. His learning was valued, and people often asked for his advice and explanations. But most of all he was loved—both in the monastery and in the neighborhood—for his meekness, gentleness and good sense of humor.
We continue to publish the recollections of Archimandrite Jovan (Radosavlević), a friend, companion, and co-struggler of the Serbian Patriarch Pavle. Fr. Jovan published his recollections in the book Memories, printed at Rača Monastery in 2018. Several episodes from this book—mournful and joyful, sad and smile-evoking—tell about the life of the Serbian Church and Serbian people at the end of the twentieth century, before and during the open war in 1999. We offer them today.
We continue the recollections of Archimandrite Jovan (Radosavlević), a friend, companion, and co-struggler of the Serbian Patriarch Pavle. Fr. Jovan published his recollections in the book Memories, printed at Rača Monastery in 2018. We offer today several episodes from this book concerning the persecution of the Serbian Church and people by the state and by Albanians.
Thus we see that any congregation has not just wheat, but also tares—they can be in the Church and in monasteries.
Knowing about the veneration and love that the Orthodox faithful around the world have for Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, we invite readers to get acquainted with several recollections of this bright man, written by Archimandrite Jovan (Radosavlević), a contemporary, companion, and co-struggler with the late Patriarch.
