‘Springtime of Renewal in Serbia, but What of Dixie?’

 

The European Christian country of Serbia may be considered something of a sister of Dixie’s.  Both peoples have followed similar paths:  After attaining a solid Christian identity and unity, both faced an horrible cataclysm:  The Serbs were conquered by the Muslim Turks in the 14^th century and remained their vassals until the 19^th century; the South was subjugated to the Yankees in the 19^th century and remain under their yoke to this day.  Some of the figures of both countries are also strikingly similar, such as Prince Lazar the Great-Martyr of Serbia and General Stonewall Jackson of Virginia – about all of which we have written in more detail elsewhere.

Given this special kinship between the two peoples, we see something hopeful developing.  There is a renewed appreciation and embrace of the past being kindled in the souls of the Serbs.  They are pouring into Kosovo, the primordial cultural/spiritual heartland of Serbia, despite the fact that Kosovo is under threat from various foes.

There is a profound yearning to be rejoined to their roots.  A student at the University of Belgrade described this yearning in his own words:

‘As soon as you turn west towards Kosovo from the highway connecting Belgrade and Thessaloniki, you begin to realize that you are entering another reality, a completely different dimension. You arrive in Visoki Dečani and you feel that you time-travelled several centuries back—time runs differently there. Or take Prizren—sure, it has practically no Serbs living there anymore, but you have this gut feeling that the town is still ours, it is Orthodox, it is Serbian! You cannot describe this feeling with words—I think you can only experience it once you are in Kosovo and Metohija. On the one hand, I feel ashamed, but on the other hand, it is also surprising and brings joy. It is only when I’m here that I realize I am a Serb and an Orthodox Christian. I go back to my people and I begin to understand what the Church, its priesthood, and monasticism mean to me. The genuine, heartfelt hospitality, the embraces, the joyful gratitude that we still remember, the stories about life of the recent past and what is going on there now… I am convinced that every Serb, if he thinks of himself as such, simply must visit Dečani, the Patriarchate of Pec, and Gračanica—at least once! And experience has shown that if you have ever visited Kosovo and Metohija once, you will always long to return to our holy places’ (Maria Vasic, ‘How Pilgrims Bring Back Hope: Notes from Kosovo and Metohija,’ orthochristian.com).

Hospitality?  Embraces?  Again, quite Southern.

There is anecdotal evidence that Dixie is seeing some resurgence of interest in her old ways:  increased attendance at (misnamed) Civil War reenactments, for instance.  But our people still seem too beguiled by the flashy materialism of Yankee America and the pseudo-sacred Philadelphia charter of 1787 to reclaim in full our patrimony.  We have become, to say it differently, too enamored with comfort.  Richard Weaver and some of the other Southern Agrarians (see, e. g., ‘The Life and Death of Cousin Lucius’ by John Donald Wade in I’ll Take My Stand) tried to remind us that the poverty of our forefathers was a shield protecting us from spiritual and cultural enervation.  We have failed to listen.  For the Serbs in Kosovo, however, suffering and struggle remain everyday realities, and it is enlivening them as it once did us:

 . . .

The rest is at https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/springtime-of-renewal-in-serbia-but-what-of-dixie/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!