Vidovdan
June 28th (15th in the Julian calendar) is called Vidovdan by the Serbian people, also known as St. Vitus Day in Christianity. It is known as the day the Kosovo Battle happened, the day that marked the end of the Serbian Empire, and a common topic of many historical books, stories, legends, and scientific theses. In Serbian Orthodoxy, this day is unrelated to St. Vid, Vidoje, or Vitus, however, the Catholic church marks the day as St. Vitus Day. Serbian people believe that a knight called Milos Obilic during the famous “Lord’s Feast”, a feast that occurred at Prince Lazar’s court just before the Battle of Kosovo, said to Prince Lazar that “tomorrow is Vidovdan (can also be roughly translated and understood as “Seeing Day”), and we will see who has faith and who has disloyalty in their heart”.
The Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates and considers this day the patron day of Saint Prince Lazar and Saint Amos the Prophet.
Amos the Prophet was born in 499 B.C. in Tekoa, in the tribe of Zebulun. He was the father of Isaiah the Prophet and was persecuted, beaten, and mistreated for his statements against idolatry and polytheism for 50 years, as he was advising people to turn to one, true religion. In his icon, he is represented as a prophet of the Old Testament, wearing regular robes and holding a scroll, a symbol of his prophecies. Legend has it that Prince Lazar’s patron saint was Amos the Prophet, as Lazar’s Lord’s Feast was held on the Patron Saint Day of Saint Amos the Prophet.
Saint Prince Lazar was born into the Hrebeljanovic (Grbljanovic) family. His father Pribic Hrebeljanovic was the Elder of Prilep, close to Novo Brdo. He grew up in the court of the Serbian Emperor Stefan Dusan. Emperor Dusan rewarded him immensely, giving him governance over Srem and Macva. He married Jevdjenija, known as Milica in the folk stories and various epics, the daughter of the great prefect Vratko, better known as Jug Bogdan, a wise man from the bloodline of Vukan Nemanjic. Lazar had three sons and five daughters: Stevan, Vuk, Lazar, Jelena, Mara, Despa, Vukosava, and Mileva who wedded the Ottoman emperor Bayezid I. When Emperor Dusan passed away, he was succeeded by his son Uros, who was murdered by his guardian Vukasin Mrnjavcevic, who wanted to become the ruler of all Serbian land, according to the stories. After the Battle of Marica against the Ottomans and Vukasin’s death in that battle, Prince Lazar was consequently chosen as the ruler, who, refusing to accept the title of emperor, chose to keep his title of prince.
Lazar was a good ruler who cared about and for his people through the founding of the monasteries Ravanica, Gornja and Vrdnik, later called New Ravanica. The external pressures were becoming stronger during his reign, as one part of the Serbian lords had chosen the Ottoman servitude, while a great number of Serbian homes had been set aflame. Lazar’s attempts to stop the Ottoman invasion through peaceful methods were fruitless, and the clash between Serbian and Ottoman forces was inevitable. The Serbian people decided to fight, and Kosovo was designated as the battleground. The two armies clashed on the 28th of June, 1389. The Battle of Kosovo was the topic of almost all medieval epics, stories, and legends, even though the Serbian side suffered defeat.
In the difficult times, Lazar’s wife Milica and their son Stefan managed to negotiate peace with the new Ottoman Emperor Bayezid, the son of Murad I who had lost his life during the battle against Serbian forces. From that point forward, Serbia became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, forced to pay tribute in both blood and gold.
Later, with the help of close family and relatives, Lazar’s body was carried to his monastery Ravanica, and the 28th of June has been celebrated as the day of Prince Lazar, the martyr and the saint venerated in the Orthodox Christian Church ever since. At the end of the 17th century, during the Great Migrations of Serbs led by Arsenije Carnojevic, Lazar’s body was also brought along, firstly to Szentendre then finally to his monastery Vrdnik, on Fruska Gora. In his church icon, Lazar is shown in the Byzantine robes suitable for emperors but without a crown, holding a martyr cross in his right hand and his decapitated head in his left, symbolizing his death.
Legend has it that after the Battle of Kosovo and the fall of the Serbian Empire, Milica founded a female monastery that gathered the wives of the fallen warriors of the battle, who spent the rest of their lives as nuns. Milica took the spiritual name Jefimija and became the head of the monastery. Because the monastery consisted of faithful wives, it become known as Ljubostinja (“ljuba” is an archaic word that signifies a woman whom one dearly loves). The monastery is still standing today.
In Sanjak there was an old legend that centered around “rusalkas”, which are the young wives and fiancées of the warriors who lost their lives in the Battle. To alleviate the pain and longing for their dead husbands, they went from house to house and gathered various contributions, introducing themselves as “rusalkas” or fairies every Vidovdan. At the break of dawn, they would gather and set the contributions on fire and dance around the flame. The dance lasted until the sunrise and some of the rusalkas would unexpectedly die during the act, after which the rest of them performed the burial. The place is known today as Rusalija’s Cemetery, located on the Rogozni mountain.
Vidovdan is usually not celebrated with singing and dancing, being a memorial day for the fallen soldiers. The most common way of celebrating would be visiting the graves and paying respects to all Serbian soldiers who laid their lives for their country. Another interesting legend tells that on every Vidovdan, in the dead of night, all rivers turn blood-red, and in Kosovo Polje (literal translation “the Kosovo Field”), a rare red peony plant grows at the exact place of the battle, while cuckoos stop their singing in honor of the fallen soldiers.
As for Vid, the Serbian folk stories tell that he was the god of herbalist doctors, with many people praying to him and asking for cures for their ailments, even today. Additionally, most people believe the plant Anagallis is the plant Saint Vid used to treat eye diseases in his patients, with older people still using it as a remedy today.
Another legend existed In Levca that suggested that if a household had a girl of age to be wedded, the household members would bring out the dowry gifts in front of their house so that everybody could see what kind of dowry the household was ready to offer to the potential suitors.
City’s Patron Saint Day
The city’s Patron Saint is the Holy Trinity (The Descending of the Holy Spirit) – the 174th day of the year. It became the official Patron Saint Day in 1997, on the suggestion and with the help of the Orthodox Church.