Repentance is the only way out

This is a translation of a leaflet issued by the Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija with the blessing of Bishop Artemije a few years ago. I've been meaning to translate it for a while.

From experience we know that every war is a tragedy for a nation. In every war the innocent suffer as much as the perpetrators, if not more. There is only one conflict that is more awful and tragic than conflicts between nations, and that is civil war, which is waged between factions of the same nation. In this situation every casualty is equally great, every wound equally hard to heal. But depending on your point of view every war can be justified to a greater or lesser extent. The war which has no justification and which is unjust in all its segments is the undeclared war, the war against the weak and innocent. It is this type of awful war which has raged for decades in Serbian lands, and which each year carries away hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. That war, which is constantly being waged and which is fought day and night, is the war against unborn Serbian children. In this war there exist concentration camps. The modern day ‘Jasenovacs’ are the state abortion clinics that work day and night. The factories of death grown under the strain of their activities. In Jasenovac, the real one, the notorious one, 700 000 Serbs were killed in 4 years. Awful is it not? In the modern day ‘Jasenovacs’ 220 000 little unborn Serbs are killed each year; and the number killed in the private ‘mini factories of death’ is unknown. When we add to this awful fact that the annual death rate is greater than the annual birth rate by 20 000, we come face to face with a painful realisation: every year a town of 20 000 disappears in Serbia. Where that is taking us is clear. Our nation is biologically dying. And then we wonder at all the problems that we are faced with. We become angry with everyone and everything, from our neighbours to God. We look to blame others for our suffering in the last 15 years. Only we never remember to look at ourselves in the mirror.

In light of what has been said about the abortion rate, the inevitable question that has to be asked is: what will be the immense and unavoidable punishment? Maybe we are even rushing towards the fate of the Khazars- and that is the complete disappearance of Serbs as a nation from the face of the earth- and it would be a small punishment in comparison to the evil that we are inflicting upon ourselves.

And lastly the question: is there salvation for Serbs from this hell in which we are boiling as a nation? Yes there is! It is nationwide repentance. Serbs must become aware of their sins and crimes against themselves and repent; and that means stop sinning. And then, and only then, as a nation and as a state will we be saved. Then, and only then, will Kosovo, as the cradle of Serbia, have its future in such a new, repentant, rebuilt and rejuvenated Serbia.

Therefore, Serbian brothers and sisters, let us come to our senses! There is nowhere else to go, we have come to the edge of the abyss: the state has almost been broken apart, Kosovo and Metohija is about to be ripped from us, and they will not stop at that. If we continue like this, if we only watch silently and shrug our shoulders, then we will in the near future become a minority in our state, some kind of new Belgrade sultanate. And in the longer term- who knows, maybe we won’t even exist. Are you able to comprehend this? Can you sleep peacefully? Many will say: “But what can I do, nothing depends on me”. Infact it is just the opposite, everything depends on us. On our will and wish to repent as a nation and ask for help from God. For He promised: “Ask and it shall be given to you, knock and the door shall be opened”. And also: “Everything you ask for in your prayers, believe that you will be granted this, and it shall be so”…”Everything is possible for him who believes”. If we believe our God and ask for salvation from him, we will obtain it. Three years in a row on Saint Sava’s day, the icons in our Serbian churches weep. They weep for us, because of our indifference and cowardliness, they cry in our place. They remind us of what we should be doing. When we weep then they will smile.

We call upon you to join the heavenly choir that prays for the salvation of Serbia and the Serbian nation everywhere: most of all in Kosovo and Metohija, but also in Southern Serbia, in Raska, in Vojvodina, in Bosnia… Let us at least hold to this (regular prayer), if we cannot manage anything greater, and remember: on our persistence and zeal our future depends.
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