St. Nikolai’s speech at the funeral of Dimitrije V. Ljotic

This was the speech that inspired me to learn more about Dimitrije Ljotic. He died toward's the end of WW2 on April 22, 1945. He was on his way to meet Patriarch Gavrilo and the then Bishop Nikolai (pictured right). Dimitrije Ljotic's car fell through a hole in a bridge that had been bombed by the Allies. I don't think this speech can be found in English anywhere on the net, so I thought I'd translate it. The Serbian original can be found on a number of sites. This is the source I used.

'Had just one branch been severed, the trunk would not have felt much, but the trunk has been severed to its roots, and a great pain has been inflicted upon us. Oh Lord! It is your will and we must accept it.

When one stone is thrown into water, it creates concentric circles that spread. In the same way the death of Dimitrije Ljotic generates a grief which spreads throughout his family, to his mother Ljubica, far away in Smederevo, to his wife Ivka, to his brother Jakov, to his sons and to his daughter. The second circle affects the volunteers (of the Serbian Volunteer Corps), his likeminded companions in peace and in war, through good and evil, in joy and in sorrow. The third circle affects the lofty Chetniks, and him who has for four years had only the earth as his carpet and the heavens as his roof (1). And then comes the fourth circle, which envelopes the entire world, because Ljotic was not just ours, he belonged to humanity, to Europe, to the whole world.

Dimitrije Ljotic was a statesman, a teacher, and a Christian. He wasn’t just an ordinary statesman, he was a Christian statesman. In the last 150 years we have had great politicians, great men like Garasanin, Jovan Ristic and Nikola Pasic, but those were men who were great in their own time, within the borders of Serbia, while Dimitrije Ljotic ventured into the great circles of world politics, and into global problems. He was a politician with a cross. I had the chance to hear him speak at the monastery of Zica when he said: ‘The Serbian nation will never be happy until the whole world is happy’.

He was a teacher who taught first of all by action, and only afterwards by words, he steered people in the right direction, he himself was the example. He never spoke about something if he had not first shown by example. He never spoke if he had not already accomplished through his own works. Oh, if only our teachers had been like that! Christ said: ‘One has to act then teach, not just to teach’(2). People will talk about him as a true man, a statesman, and a deep Christian, and this was his greatest attribute. He starts from himself, and that is what benefits the world. If you start from the periphery, from another, and not from your self you are of no use to anybody. That was his motto; Dimitrije Ljotic was a man of deep faith. As minister of Justice he held the censer for the priest in church. Many ridiculed him, but he was not embarrassed. He said: ‘I go to seek out the will of the Lord, and when I find it I will pursue it without looking to the left or right’. Without Dimitrije Ljotic a great emptiness is felt, and it is an emptiness that cannot be easily overcome.

A tree has been cut down, but God knows what he does and we must submit to his will. The tree is cut down, but from it many saplings have sprouted, and those are the many other Ljotic’s. If Dimitrije Ljotic has fallen, tens of thousands of Serbian heroes who have come together under arms, not as individuals, but united, are the replacements of Dimitrije Ljotic. Dimitrije Ljotic is a man who inspired people. He carried a heavy cross in war and in peace, for even in peace people did not want to give him peace. And in war he fulfilled his duty as a soldier and as a citizen. It was those very people who were superficial and who governed the people that did not understand him. For that reason we have collapsed, because we didn’t know how to cherish such worth.
God has taken him in his own time. Some will say: they have taken us from him. But they haven’t taken him, for he gave an example through his life and struggle until today. How much humility, what ascetism, as befits a hermit of the Holy Mountain (3), what prayers, the sweetness of a child!

We are grateful to him, his Holiness and I, we thank him for our transferral from captivity to Vienna, and from Vienna to here (4). We can never forget that deed of the most faithful son of Serbdom.

When I spoke to him in Vienna about the unifying of our national forces, speaking of the man for whom I said that for 4 years the earth had been his only carpet and the heavens his only cover, he humbly replied: ‘Let him command, I will listen. Let him be at the head, I at the bottom. I will wash his feet’. And unity came. (5)

Whoever knew that man, had to love him. He was an ideologue on a global scale, who possessed a deep soul, with a lions courage and a lamb’s meekness. He spoke: ‘If we make all nations happy, we also will be happy’. Cedo Milic the great hero of Mostar, said: ‘ I have seen other heroes, but heroes like Ljotic never and nowhere’. Books will be written about him for that reason. Not only will Serbs write them, but all Europeans who knew him.

There were people who said that he liked to gather riches from somewhere, to hoard them. But where are his houses? Where are his fields? I see none of that. But he was very rich in spirit, in integrity, in faith. A spiritual man, of character, honest, decisive and religious. He was so rich in spirit that he was able to give from his surplus to others, to lend to others, always ready to give advice and a kind word. For him politics was not acrobatics, but ethics. He was the representative of the Serbian soul and heart, Serbian beauty and truth. He was the ideologue of Christian nationalism.

He loved his commanders. He spoke to me about that, and also they spoke to me and only praised him. One great commander, who is here among us, told me on one occasion not long ago: ‘they cannot separate themselves from him (his soldier’s). Words flow from his mouth like honey. He is the true representative of the Serbian political ideal’. He gave so much of himself that had he lived another 50 years, he wouldn’t have had any more left to give. His ideology encapsulated all the branches of national life.

Everyone grieves for him. Even the Germans grieve for him. Many smeared him saying that he was too close to the Germans. And it was those very people who were not in solidarity with the people, who owned villas and had great wealth, and who like exploiters prepared for themselves a fortune for the next hundred years. But he criticized the Germans more than anyone, and for that very reason they respected him. Only those who did not know him criticized him.

Oh how much did he love his soldiers. One officer from his guard told me: ‘When we retreated from Belgrade, on the road we stopped and dealt out bread to the hungry soldiers. When we had dealt out the food, I approached Ljotic and told him that there was only enough bread left for him and me. At that he replied: ‘Give out that also. We will cope better. We are in any case about to retire to sleep, and it is easier to sleep when one has an empty stomach’ And that I did’. He respected man above everything, everything except for God.

He was a great man. That which he sowed grew deep roots. And everything he did will give off a beautiful scent. Volunteers, sing praises to Dimitrije Ljotic! Chetniks weave wreaths in honour of him! Serbs, remember Dimitrije Ljotic!

The greatest sacrifice has been made. God, ask for no more. God, enough, we beg You: You have taken much and as the greatest sacrifice, him! God, let it be enough.

I believe that this great sacrifice is the gate that will lead us to freedom. Dimitrije Ljotic is the gate to our new Fatherland. For that reason brothers, let us pray for the soul of this great man and let the Lord accept him into His Kingdom. Let God grant us our prayers, and to Dimitrije let Him grant that which he deserves. May the Lord have mercy on the soul of Dimitrije Ljotic! Unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Dimitrije Ljotic is not dead. He now belongs to the whole of Serbdom. He now belongs to Heavenly Serbia (6). And the dead are more powerful than the living. He is now stronger, than when he was alive. He is now more powerful than when he was living and restricted in this world. He now achieves more and possesses greater power. Only now is he active. Thank you to him’

Saint Nikolai Velimirovic
(April 1945)

Footnotes
(1) Draza Mihajlovic, commander of the Chetniks.

(2) I'm not sure which Bible verse St. Nikolai is quoting, so I wasn't able to check the exact translation as it may be found in an English Bible. I've tried (and hopefully succeeded) in maintaining the spirit of Christ's word's, but if anyone knows exactly how it would be found in an English Bible then let me know and I will change the text accordingly.
(3) The Holy Mountain is a reference to the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos, situated in Northern Greece. Check out the wikipedia article here for more information.

(4) Reference to Ljotic’s lobbying of the Germans to release Patriarch Gavrilo and the then Bishop Nikolai from captivity.
(5) Reference to the unification of all Nationalist forces (Chetniks, Serb Volunteer Corps, and Slovenian nationalist’s) and the creation of one front against the communist forces.
(6)“Heavenly Serbia” refers to the reality of Heaven and the repose of the saints. Serbia has it own choir of saints who continually make supplication to God for their people. See http://www.rusjournal.com/sbvi.html.

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