Serbia in Light and Darkness: With Preface by the Archbishop of Canterbury, (1916) — John Shaqi
Serbia in Light and Darkness: With Preface by the Archbishop of Canterbury, (1916)Velimirović, Nikolaj
History
Serbia in Light and Darkness: With Preface by the Archbishop of Canterbury, (1916)
Velimirović, Nikolaj
Proverbs, Serbian; Serbia; Serbian poetry -- Translations into English
You have heard talk of Greater Serbia. I personally think that Serbia
can never be greater than in this solemn hour of her supreme suffering,
in which all the civilised world in both hemispheres trembles because of
her catastrophe and sympathises with her. I personally love my little
country just because it is so little; and just because its deeds are
greater than its size. I am not sure that I should love it so much
should it happen to become territorially so big as Spain or Italy. But
I cannot help it; I must say that our Irridentists in Austro-Hungary are
more numerous than our population in Serbia. Eight millions of our
Serbo-Croat and Slovene brothers have been looking towards Serbia as
towards their Piedmont, waiting their salvation from Serbia, as
Alsace-Lorraine is waiting its salvation from France, and being proud of
Serbia as all slaves are proud of their free kinsmen. All the slaves
from Isonzo to Scutari are groaning under the yoke of an inhuman
Austro-Magyar regime, and are singing of Serbia as their redeemer from
chains and shame. Little Serbia has been conscious of her great historic
task, to liberate and unite all the Southern-Slavs in one independent
being; therefore she, with supreme effort, collected all her forces to
fulfil her task and her duty, and so to respond to the vital hopes of
her brethren.
Shall I say that is Serbia?
No; that is only physical Serbia.
But there is a soul of Serbia.
For five hundred years the Serbian soul suffered and believed. Suffering
sometimes breaks the belief. But the Serbian suffering strengthened the
belief of the Serbian people. With belief came hope, with hope strength;
and so the Serbs endured the hardest and darkest slavery ever recorded
in history, not so much by their physical strength as by the strength of
their soul. Besides, it was a great temptation for the Serbs to abandon
the Christian faith and to accept the faith of the Crescent. Under this
condition only, the Turks promised freedom to the Serbs and equal
rights. Several of the aristocratic families could not resist this
temptation and became renegade to the faith of their ancestors in order
to save their lives. But the mass of the people fearlessly continued to
be faithful to the belief in the Cross.
Allow me to give you only a few examples of the
ACTIVITY OF THE SERBIAN SOUL
in the time when the Serbian body was in chains. Although the Serbian
body was enslaved, the Serbian soul was still free and active. Here are
some proverbs made during the time of slavery and abasement of the body:
It is better not to be born than to misuse life.
The sun sees everything and keeps silent; the foolish man knows nothing
and still talks.
Why does God send suffering to the best of His children? Because the
weak cannot endure it.
The tears of the weak are accusations of the strong; the tears of the
poor are accusations of the rich; the tears of the righteous will be
transformed into diamonds under the throne of God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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