A great man is one who collects knowledge the way a bee collects honey and uses it to help people overcome the difficulties they endure - hunger, ignorance and disease!
- Nikola Tesla

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
- Franklin Roosevelt

While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken.
- Woodrow Wilson

Divine Liturgy at the Heart of Serbian Life

The oldest and the newest Serbian book in North America is the Služebnik (Liturgy book) used lovingly by clergy for the Divine Services. One was published in 1519 in Venice and the other in 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Тhe Služebnik was printed in Venice in 1519 by Božidar Vuković, a Serb from Montenegro became a renowned printer in Venice. This printed version of the Divine Liturgy was the first printed book in Cyrillic in history. It is of priceless value to Serbian and Slavic heritage and literature. This rare book belonged to the Very Reverend Milutin Tesla (1819–1879) who was the father of Nikola Tesla (1856–1943). When Milutin died his widow, Djuka (nee Mandić) kept the book. After her death, Nikola Tesla took the rare copy to New York with him and had it restored. This rare Book of the Serbian Liturgy is in the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, in the heartland and physical center of the United States. It was restored by the Truman library in 1977.

“The Sacred and Divine Liturgy оf our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom” was published in 2018 by St. Sebastian Press of the Western American Diocese in English and Serbian, and edited by Bishop Maxim Vasiljević of Western American Diocese.

Although 500 years separate these two publications, their existence witnesses to the fact that the Divine Liturgy continues to be at the heart of Serbian life and culture.


SA

 

People Directory

Bishop Mardarije (Uskokovic)

The First Serbian Bishop of America and Canada
Bishop Mardarije was born in Podgorica on December 22, 1889, his father, Pero, being a tribal captain and mother Jela, nee Bozovic. He finished elementary school in Cetinje where he started high school, continuing in Belgrade. Leaving high school in his fifth year, he went to Studenica Monastery. In 1906, with the blessing of Bishop Sava (Barac) of Zica, he took monastic vows and was ordained a deacon. He graduated from the Seminary in Kisenjev where a collection of his sermons was published. From here he went to St. Petersburg, graduating from the Theological Academy in 1916.

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Publishing

Western American Diocese - Annual 2013

2013 marked several momentous occasions: 50 years of the founding of the Western American Diocese, 150 years of the birth of Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich, Holy Apostle to the Americas, 1700 years of the Edict of Milan, and a special tribute to Nikola Tesla! Our main focus during this three-day Jubilee Celebration was on the freedom to pursue our faith since the time of Constantine 1700 years ago and how to better live a spiritual life.

As a special tribute, a beautiful commemorative edition of the Annual was prepared, which reflects the History of the Western American Diocese! It is adorned with beautiful photographs and historical articles from our parishes and monateries! It also showcases the wonderful work that has been done over the past year throughout our Diocese and information about our many ongoing ministries. This publicaton also includes a Directory of Parishes.

There are two version of this publication available. Our Hardcover version sells for $15. Our Softcover version sells for $10 and includes Ads & Greetings from families and businesses throughout our Diocese.