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

Lillian Arezina - Truly Different

A GREAT TRIBUTE TO A GREAT TEACHER

A Seminary Student Remembers What He Learned from His English Teacher, Mrs. Lillian Arezina

By Fr. Slobodan Čavka

Everything that God commands us to do, He can do incomparably better. However, instead of doing it for us, as our parent, He teaches us how to do it ourselves. Every teacher, but also every parent, has experienced the frustration which comes from trying to teach. In a way, it is easier to feed and clothe the children, than to teach them how to do it by themselves.

The job of a teacher is a sacrifice. The job of a teacher is not to think for the students, but to teach the students to think for themselves. The job of a teacher is a selfless, not a selfish act. The job of a teacher concerns altruism, not egotism. It does not a matter what a teacher can do, rather the success of a teacher is reflected in what her students are able to achieve. A true teacher teaches her students not only facts but makes her students into better people.

The list of such principles could go on and on. From my point of view, all the above have something in common. All these principles are beautifully displayed in the life of Lillian Arezina, the English language teacher at St. Sava College of Theology in Libertyville.

It seems to me that in memoriam articles in modern society, in a way commit an injustice to deserving people. Such form of posthumous honors, from a human perspective, arrive too late. Although I am aware that “the Lord’s eyes see differently than man's,” and that His judgment is incorruptible, fair and final, I still want to - contrary to established practices - write a word about a person who is still with us.

Not meaning to sound too harsh, I am afraid that we who are in the church or of the church are negligent in honoring these important and deserving people. This is true especially if their help is no longer needed and they “can no longer do anything to us”.

It is not my intention to fill this text with her biographical data, but to rather convey something of the indelible spiritual traces, which this diligent woman is leaving behind. On behalf of her former students, I wish to emphasize what we are eternally grateful to our teacher Lillian Arezina, who was so much more.

Her venerable character has truly always been - and will always be - a source of strength and inspiration for her students. She chose teaching as her lifelong profession. This is an honorable profession, which has placed her in a tragically privileged position. Even though her circumstances, the system, and the people – everything had directed her to be bad, she was good. Even though everything directed her to be selfish, she was generous. Even though everything directed her to “slow down on her job”, she remained dedicated. Even though everything directed her not to trust people, she, however, trusted them.

Her message to her students was clearly written above her desk: “Go into the world and do well, but more importantly, go into the world and do good”! In addition, we heard her frequently repeated words, saying: “Have the strength to be different!” Undoubtedly, she knew that more than any words, her life would be the strongest message and instruction for us. To do as she wrote and as she spoke. She was a woman of action, with inexhaustible energy, with a constant need to be on the move, but she was also always ready for the main, character role. Although fully aware of her talents and abilities, as well as her character, she lived much more for others than for herself.

She helped by advising, educating, and often financially. Finding themselves in a foreign country, our young people did not have many doors on which they could knock. To knock and to have them open. The door of her heart was always open. Even if I was working with accurate statistics, I could hardly list all the educational courses that she paid for our students, all the traffic fines she settled, all the debts she returned on behalf of others, all the checks she wrote to help her students...

She was patient even with the ignorant and deceiving, which she was clearly able to discern. Even if those disagreed with her, the point is that from the encounter with her they would always come out smarter and better, and more aware of what was their real value. Although she taught only English, she also taught us many lessons and prepared us for life. And at the very beginning, this was the least what we expected from “her” class. It seems that she labored, and others have entered into her labor (Jn. 4:38). Unrelated, but a very important point.

Her living faith in the risen Lord was tested, and confirmed, when in 2004, in an attempted robbery, her husband was monstrously killed by several young men – because of 40 dollars in his pocket.

Words can hardly describe what an impact this tragic death had on her life. Thirty-seven years of a good marriage were terminated when two of them were supposed to enjoy the fruits of their love - their children. Her husband was successful in everything he did, but his greatest desire to be a grandfather was denied. A life paradox presents a sad fact that such a quiet and peaceful man was so brutally and violently murdered.

What is even sadder is that Lillian spent her entire teaching career working with young people, helping them to become the best possible. It is indeed ironic that precisely the young people brought so much pain into her life.

This pain she endured knowing that our life is but a journey to the place where there is no sorrow or pain, to the place where we encounter Him, Who is and who does so that we are. This belief helped her not to get attached to earthly things, but to weave good works, securing them to heaven.

Undoubtedly, Lillian Arezina had a direct and fruitful influence on the work of St. Sava College of Theology in Libertyville, and indirectly on the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church, but also on the fullness of Orthodoxy in America. Through her example, I learned that there are no ancient and modern people, but only the true and false ones.

Although aware that only eternity will reveal the full range of this woman’s life, I wanted to thank God - in this way - for allowing me and many others to have her as a teacher, a friend... a mother. At the same time, I will continue to pray that she, with her Christian influence and her testimony, continues to illumine the way for many young souls, which are in a desperate need of light. Artificial illumination or sanctity somehow does not appeal to me. Therefore, my wish is that this text is a reminder to all teachers, that it is far more effective seeing a sermon, than hearing it...


SA

 

People Directory

Alexander Dzigurski

By Milana Karlo Bizic

One of America's greatest artists of Serbian extraction, Alexander Dzigurski, recently passed away in San Francisco, near his beloved Pacific Ocean. Dzigurski was an internationally known artist, famous for his unique and colorful seascapes. He was blessed with a prolific talent for capturing the action and color of the sea on canvas. One of his larger canvases (36"x48"), called From Sea to shining Sea, hangs in the Franklin Mint Museum. It was painted in 1976, in honor of the nations Bicentennial, when the Franklin Mint Gallery of American Art commissioned him "as America's finest painter of the sea" to paint his expression of the sea that bounds the beauty of this noble land.

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Савремени еклисиолошки подсетник о Дијаспори

Историја и анализа тзв. „Америчког раскола“ (1963-1992) и предлози за његово превазилажење

Епископ Атанасије (Јевтић)

У издању Севастијан преса из Лос Анђелеса и Братства Св. Симона Мироточивог из Врњачке Бање, недавно је изашла нова књига Атанасија (Јевтића), умировљеног Владике херцеговачког, Савремени еклисиолошки подсетник о Дијаспори - Историја и анализа тзв. „Америчког раскола“ (1963-1992) и предлози за његово превазилажење.

Текст ове књиге је написан сада већ далеке 1990.године, и до данас био необјављен будући да је само за Синодске Оце Архијереје био намењен ради превазилажења тзв. „Америчког раскола“. Данас, када је тај српски раскол литургијски и административно превазиђен, сасвим је разумљиво и пожељно било да се овај текст предочи јавности.

На молбу Светог Архијерејског Синода, ондашњи јеромонах Атанасије је сва питања везана за болни раскол у српској дијаспори ставио под светлост православне Еклисиологије и Предања, што је био једини начин за њихово суочавање како би се дошло што ближе до зацељивања раскола. Читалац ће приметити како је он савесно и непристрасно проанализирао цело питање раскола и дао целисходне икономијске предлоге за његово решење. Ова књига је резултат његовог савесног христољубивог и црквољубивог рада.

Конкретан резултат Атанасијевог еклисиолошког предлога била је обнова евхаристијског општења и помирења које је постигнуто на празник Сретења Господњег, 15. фебруара 1992. године у Саборној Цркви у Београду, када су Српски Патријарх Павле и чланови Светог Архијерејског Сабора служили са Митрополитом Иринејем (Ковачевићем), дотадашњим епископом у расколу. Коначно, 21. маја 2009. године, Свети Архијерејски Сабор је донео одлуку и о коначном административном јединству Српске Цркве у Северној и Јужној Америци.

Истовремено, ова књига осветљава битно питање Дијаспоре. Дијаспора је пред Православну Цркву поставила два битна проблема: питање провере исправности нашег схватања Цркве, оног које се у последњим вековима код многих од нас усталило, и питање мисије Цркве у свету.

Књига је изашла са благословом Епископа новограчаничког и средњезападноамеричког Лонгина и Епископа западноамеричког Максима.

Књигу можете наручити по цени од $15 код:
Western American Diocese
1621 West Garvey Avenue Alhambra CA, 91803
847 571-3600, 626 289 9061, 626 284 1484 (fax), Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Visit our online store at http://westsrbdio.org/en/sebastian-press/sebastian-press-publications


Contemporary Ecclesiological Reminderon the Diaspora:
History and analysis of so called “American schism” (1963-1992) and recommendations for its overcoming

by Bishop Athanasius (Yevtich)

Recently, a new book by Athanasius (Yevtich), retired Bishop of Herzegovina, was published in Serbian by Sebastian Press of Los Angeles in cooperation with St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming of Vrnjacka Banja.

This book was written in a now already distant year of 1990. This is its first publishing since the original intent was to have it available only for the hierarchs of the Holy Synod for the purpose of overcoming the so-called “American schism” within the Serbian diaspora. Presently, as the Serbian schism has been liturgically and administratively vanquished, it is understandable and desirable to have this valuable research available to the public.

At the request of the Holy Synod, back then hieromonk Atanasije acceded to collect all relevant documents in reference to painful schism in Serbian Diaspora, placing them in the light of Orthodox Ecclesiology and Holy Tradition, which was the only way to face it properly and bring it closer to healing.The readers will notice how Bishop Atanasije analyzed responsibly, and impartially the whole question of schism, and at the same time provided comprehensive, integral and thorough ecclesial economy, recomendations for solutions.This book is the result of his Christ-loving and Church-loving labor.

A tangible result of Atanasije's ecclesiological recommendation was the Eucharistic renewal, communion, and reconciliation which was established on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, February 15, 1992. At the Cathedral in Belgrade, His Holiness Patriarch Paul and hierarchs of the Holy Episcopal Assembly celebrated for the first time together since the schism, with Metropolitan Iriney (Kovacevic), up until then, schismatic bishop in Diaspora.Finally, on May 21, 2009, the Holy Assembly made a decission about conclusive administrative unity of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America.

In the same time this book reveals crucial question regarding Diaspora, because ecclesial organization of the Orthodox Church abroad presents itself with at least two problems: a) a check-up of our interpretation and comprehension of the Church, especifically of the last couple of centuries existing convictions, and b) a question of the Church mission in the World.

This book is published with the blessings of His Grace, Bishop Longin of New Gracanica - Midwestern America, and His Grace, Bishop Maxim of Western American Diocese, of the Serbian Orthodox Church for North and South America.

Price $15

Call us today with your order!
Western American Diocese
1621West Garvey Avenue Alhambra CA, 91803
847 571-3600, 626 289 9061, 626 284 1484 (fax), Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Visit our online store at http://westsrbdio.org/en/sebastian-press/sebastian-press-publications