"Let us exclaim with love to Saint Sava, the Serbian church and school, the holy head..."
In Cetinje, the first celebration of St. Sava as a school celebration was recorded in 1856. The ceremony took place during the reign of prince Danilo Petrović, and it was witnessed by the court archdeacon of Cetinje and secretary of the Metropolitanate, Filip Radičević. It is not excluded that there were such celebrations before in the Montenegrin capital, since Cetinje schools were founded two decades ago - but there are no documents about it. However, according to the written sources of the cultural and educational societies from Boka, Saint Sava was celebrated in an organized manner as the patron saint of those organizations and local schools in Risno as early as 1835, Bijela in 1824, Morinje in 1845, Kotor in 1839, so it makes sense to assume that Saint Sava's feasts are school celebrations as well Cetinje itself older than 1856.
According to Radičević's description, the aforementioned celebration began with the Holy Liturgy in the Cetinje Monastery, from where the priests, believers and students went in a procession (litia) towards the school hall, with the ringing of bells and the chanting of the troparion to Saint Sava. The hall was decorated with pictures of Prince Danilo and Princess Darinka, and the icon of St. Sava. There, the consecration of the water took place, after which the best student gave an appropriate speech. At the end of the assembly, all present together sang the hymn of St. Savi, a song whose first verses we gave in the introduction of this text. The ceremony ended with Prince Danilo personally presenting the award to the best student.
The authenticity of this record is all the greater if it is known that the first awarded pupil, in 1856, was exactly Protodeacon Filip. Chroniclers' reports on later celebrations of St. The Sava in Cetinje are much more comprehensive and detailed in their description. Those celebrations, in addition to worship, consisted of various festivities - from concerts in the Zetski dom, to parties at the court, to gatherings in schools - and all under the clear patronage of the ruling house of Petrović. It was recorded, for example, that in 1896 Prince Nikola gave a large icon of St. to the Cetinje elementary school. Sava. School celebrations of St. The Sava on Cetinje continued, without interruption, even under the Austro-Hungarian occupation, and after 90 years, they were forcibly stopped at the end of World War II. The last recorded school St. Savan celebration in Cetinje was the one from 1946 in the Cetinje Gymnasium. However, with the end of the Saint Sava events in secular schools, the celebration of St. Sava on Cetinje. The first Serbian archbishop was solemnly celebrated in the Cetinje monastery and in the church of St. John the Baptist in Bajice, for decades, until today. And since 1992 in the renovated Cetinje seminary.
The anthem "Let us shout with love..." is a typical product of the era of national romanticism from the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. It can be seen from its text that it aims to raise awareness of the unity of all regions that were considered Serbian at that time. Therefore, in addition to the spiritual, it also has a cultural, even a clear political, national character. Given that it was written in such and such a time, it could not have been different, and to this day it has survived as the most favorite song in all areas celebrating St. Sava. However, the cult of St. Save in our nation is much deeper, more meaningful and older than this hymn and the time in which it was created. It is clear to everyone that it cannot exhaust all the significance of the Saint Sava church, nor can we completely identify the Saint Sava cult with it.
And yet, this anthem has been sung in Cetinje for over 150 years, without stopping! Cultural and political worldviews change, and that's only natural. Today's generation understands in a different way what was created centuries before us. Someone identifies with these verses, someone respects them, and someone doesn't. Leaving all that aside, the personal and collective affinities of Montenegrin citizens, one fact is unavoidable and very important. In today's Montenegro, we do not have many such cultural monuments as the Svetosava Hymn. We do not have such an old and continuously present intangible cultural treasure as this song, which has been sung in Cetinje for, say, 16 decades, and in Boka and other parts of our country, for close to two centuries.
That is why its importance for the culture of this country, of this civil society, is much greater than what some political or nationalist perception of this topic would suggest. What's more, its importance in Montenegrin culture cannot be reduced either to this impressive continuity, or to the year of the first recorded performance. And all because the Svetosava celebration and the singing of the hymn "Let us shout with love" in 1856 is a spiritual phenomenon that has its authentic Montenegrin roots and its rich prehistory.
The holiday, which was established on the initiative of Prince Danilo, refers to the personality of St. Sava, the archbishop of Žica who founded, among others, the Orthodox dioceses of Zeta, Budimljanska and Humska back in the 13th century. Over time, Zetska grew into the Cetinje Metropolitanate, Budimljanska remained until today in the north of Montenegro with its headquarters in Đurđev stupov, and Humska is now the diocese of Herzegovina, with its history in the areas and in the people of today's Montenegro. Suffice it to say that its seat was once in Bijelo Polje, and another time in Ostrog Monastery, and that one of its bishops was St. Vasilije Ostroški, glory and mercy to him. St. Sava's personality is woven into countless folk traditions from Paštrović, through Boka, Stara Crne Gora, Banjan, Piva, to Drobnjak and Vasojević. He is celebrated as a baptismal glory or service by numerous Montenegrin brotherhoods. Dozens of Orthodox churches are dedicated to him, hundreds of iconostases and frescoes in Montenegrin temples are decorated with him. In the villages near Cetinje, the Saint Sava fast is observed to this day, from Jovandan to Savindan. Savindan is marked as a major holiday in the church calendars of Crnojević and minei which was in Venice was printed by Božidar Vuković of Podgorica. Roman Catholics and Muslims respect Sava Nemanjić, and Russians, Bulgarians and other Orthodox nations see their saint in him.
In these days of St. Sava, when liturgical gatherings and St. Sava academies are held all over Montenegro, it would be a good time to ask ourselves how much we preserve the memory of St. Sava, that is - how much do we protect ourselves?
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