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St Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic of Zica:
          A Link Between Serbia and England1

                          MILUN KOSTIC

GEORGE BELL, the Bishop of Chichester, speaking of Bishop Nikolai Velimiro-
vic in 1956 said: “A marvellous man, yes. A great patriot, yes. But he was more than
that. He was a prophet of God, not only of God’s mercy, but of God’s judgment”.

In the most di?cult days for Serbia, after
it was attacked in 1914 by the mighty
Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbia’s Pre-
mier Nikola Pasic summoned hieromonk
Nikolai Velimirovic to Nis, the temporary
seat of the Serbian Government, and
asked him to go to England and America
to plead for support for Serbia and her
long suffering people and to counter
Austro-Hungarian propaganda. When
Nikolaj asked him “What shall I tell
them?”, Pasic replied “You’ll know instinc-
tively what to tell them”.

        Nikolai left for England immedi-
ately, then travelled on to the USA, but
soon returned to England where he deliv-
ered many lectures and sermons in
churches, universities, cinemas, clubs,
houses… He informed his audiences about
Serbia’s di?culties in her just struggle against the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
which planned to wipe Serbia o? the face of the earth. Against all odds, this
man of God and monk succeeded in opening the eyes of churchmen, politi-
cians and people of the mighty British Empire and won them over to Serbia’s
cause.

1 This text is an excerpt from a lecture Father Milun delivered in the churchyard of the church of
Our Lord’s Ascension at Zarkovo, Serbia, on the eve of the feast of St John of Shanghai and San
Francisco in 2013.

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