These days, the story flared up about the fact that the Church abuses schoolchildren (children who go to school) for some of its religious (someone adds political!?) goals, and that this is very bad for the state of Montenegro. One careless call by an educator for students (of one class, one school) to come to prayer in an organized manner, put the presence of children in the place of worship into question - in part of the public. Here are a few remarks, as a topic for reflection, without pretensions to say everything and to draw definitive conclusions.
1. Medieval Montenegro (Zeta) could not have schools other than churches and monasteries - and this lasted for at least five centuries. Generations of Montenegrins - that is, our ancestors - became literate in those places. Everything that we have preserved as a monument of our authentic Montenegrin literacy (but everything!!!) from the time of Crnojević to Njegoš - was created either under the vaults of one of our monasteries or was written by the hand of one of the people in the mantle. Well, if there were no other, this reason would be enough for every Montenegrin schoolboy to enter the church and see what is there, and for someone from the church to show (explain) it to him.
2. And what were the conditions for the development of education (in terms of the participation of all citizens and greater literacy of the population) - no need to waste words on that. There were no opportunities to open mass schools even in the regions under Turkish occupation. During the 18th century, the metropolitans of Petrović tried to organize schools at the monasteries, but money for education was difficult to allocate in wartime conditions. We have some outlines of the first school or a school course in the Cetinje monastery during the time of Saint Peter of Cetinje, but young Rade Tomov still had to go to school in Toplo and Savin. And there again - at Pop's to school! And that was the beginning and end of Njegoš's formal education. Therefore, if you want the children to see where Njegoš was educated - go straight to church with them.
3. In 1834, Njegoš managed to establish the first school at the Cetnji monastery. The main goal of Njegoš's school was to teach students how to read and write, and how to pray to God. That is why the textbooks in the first modern Montenegrin school were liturgical church books. The first teacher of Njegoš's school in Cetinje was Bokelj Petar Ćirković, who brought to Cetinje the tri-alphabetic Slavic-Serbian primer by Pavel Solarić from 1812. Anyone who wants to show our schoolchildren the first school textbooks in Montenegro can comfortably take them to the priest's church. (I'm not really sure what percentage of readers of this text are there who, without "Googling" beforehand, could tell what the books Oktoih and Časoslov are for and refer to - monuments of Montenegrin culture and spirituality!)
4. The following or the same year, Njegoš opened a printing house in the Monastery, and in 1842 another school, again in the monastery, Dobrska cella (at one time one of the seats of the Cetinje metropolitans). It is assumed that in addition to these two schools, there were also schools at the monasteries in Ostrog and Brčeli. Among the first printed readings in this Njegoš imprint, I would single out "Serbian folk proverbs" edited by Vuk Karadžić with generous institutional and personal assistance to Njegošev. These proverbs, under this name, include a large number of folk sayings from the area of Old Montenegro. Then "Serbian primer - for the sake of teaching the youth church and civic reading" from 1836. Then, in 1838, Vuk, together with Njegoš, printed "Serbian grammar - compiled for the Montenegrin youth"! as a textbook necessary for educational work in newly formed Montenegrin schools. An interesting poem by Njegos "Serbian thanks Serbs for honor" was printed there, which represents his gratitude to the Roman Catholics of Boke for several days of extraordinary hospitality. Elem, whoever reads the titles and contents of these first textbooks and literary works of Njegoš's printing house, will better understand the efforts of the Church and the clergy to reconcile and maintain the Serbian and Montenegrin identities in Montenegro in a brotherly relationship, both of which existed here much longer before the First War and the famous 1918!
5. During the time of Prince Danilo, the school in Njegoševo continued to operate near the Cetinje Monastery, attended by the future Prince Nikola, as well as his cousins Božo and Šako Petrović, as well as many others... In all these schools (data from later 1870) there were about 300 Montenegrin boys and as many as 12 (!) girls. Listen to the names of the courses they attended: Religious courses - biblical stories of the Old and New Testaments; Catechism; Psalter with translation; Church literature... but also Serbian history, Serbian grammar. And I mention this as a remedy against the nationalist nervousness that sickly divides reality into "Montenegrin" children and "Serbian" pops...
These are the first steps of our school system in the 19th century. They are followed by the history of the theological school in Cetinje and the first high schools in the territory of today's Montenegro. From Njegoš until the end of the Second World War, theology (religious studies) was studied non-stop in every Montenegrin school. After the Great War of 1878, in the territory that was annexed to Montenegro, Muslim children were obliged to attend Montenegrin elementary schools, as well as Orthodox children, with the fact that they had Friday off instead of Thursday, and their religious education was conducted by their religious teacher. Since those years, an Orthodox priest could not be appointed as a teacher in schools where there were a large number of Muslim children.
This short reminder could calm the passions regarding the presence of children in the Orthodox church, at the service. Yes, it is true - there is no need for a teacher to gather them for prayer. This is done by pop through believing parents. And when they get together these days - they should pay attention to health regulations. But on the other hand, no one in the Church thinks of holding school classes in churches, nor did we replace the classroom with a chapel - but one day a prayer was held for those children and those parents who wanted that prayer. This issue is not, I admit, fully defined by positive regulations, but we are far from state collapse if children came before the pope or hodja. On the contrary.
I am convinced that every educator would consider it a prestigious undertaking if, on some excursion, he took the students to Notre Dame or to one of the Milan and London cathedrals. And I also believe that there would not have been more runaways if the organ or the song of the local church choir were heard in those western places of worship at that moment. The general enlightenment of the people in terms of getting to know institutions and concepts will make society (and individuals in it) powerful and able to recognize the border between the sacred and the profane, between civil and religious freedom on the one hand and universally obligatory institutions on the other. Neither the Church will be a bogeyman for the citizens, nor will the school be an enemy to believers.
Secularism represents separation and not atomic war between Church and State. If it is about a space outside the institution of the school and a time outside the teaching itself, about the organization of the act by the priest (and not the teacher) without any obligation or coercion and with the implied consent of the parents; if we know that Montenegro is one of 4-5 European countries where there is no (!!!) form of religious education in schools; if we clearly see here that the origin and centuries-long duration of education are inseparable from the Church or the mosque; if we know that these same children - completely in accordance with the Constitution and the law - churches and religious communities gather in their sanctuaries on the days of spiritual holidays - that's a reason to talk about everything with more understanding.
The ignorance of literate people regarding kneeling prayer (metania) becomes shameful the moment it turns into their aggression towards the Church through the question: "And when did our ancestors pray in the Church?" Let's look at the picture above the text, and silently listen to the answer that comes from the prayer of our ancestors...
Bonus video:
