This is how the scenes from the stories of Milovan Glisic, Laza Lazarevic … are imagined… Just like the church in Jalovik, in the municipality of Vladimirci, is being conceived today. Sunday morning, about eight o’clock, when we arrived in the village.
We come from the big city… the main one. From the place where everyone is drivving fast, furiously and impatiently, from the place where the trumpets are sounding, drivers are cursing, we do not know to comply with Sunday morning. We do not see any particularity in it. Sunday came to us as: “There is less crowd on the bridges” or “It’s Sunday, maybe there’s a place in the first parking zone,” “Tomorrow’s work, a weekend …”.
We, accustomed to the urban jungle, are not even close to honoring either January 1, May 1, Easter or Christmas, as they know here in Jalovik how to honor an ordinary Sunday and liturgy in the simple Church of the Holy Apostle Luke.
It was a worthwhile experience.
The Church of the Holy Apostle Luke in Jalovik began to build in 1935, according to the project of engineer Aleksandra Bučina from Šabac. It was completed in 1938.
Today, this is one of the places where the inhabitants of Jalovik are most likely to gather, especially on Sundays and when they are big holidays.
And this week, when we arrived in the village, there were plenty of people in the church and in front of the church.
Church bells ring, mothers put their scarves around their hair, catch children, whisper: “Do not hurry and talk.” They enter the sacred temple. It’s all clear to the little girl. She does not need a mother to say twice. They seem to have been taught. This is not the first week in the church for her.
There are people, the whole village has come to the liturgy. They bend to the floor, to give as much honor as possible to the god, and each inevitably kneels his knees and kisses the wooden door of the temple.
The boys and the girls, they all want to look good for the church. The girls knitted the braids. How does it fit, please, for it is a Sunday morning, the holy spirit is waiting in the village temple. And not just him, but even the whole village. Cousins, family, aunts, neighbors…
A parish worthy, believers early. Women and men, together with their mother-in-lawa, wives, husbands, sond and daughters, come out of the cars, from the tractors and simply walking.
Happy cheering, everyone is laughing in the end. And the weather is nice. Summer. They are only confused when looking at us.
They’re looking at strangers with a big camera.
Nothing, they are silent, frowned because we zoomed in. Nevertheless, they returned a smile when we gave them a smile.
The Service starts. Males to the right, women to the left side of the church. Boys with fathers and grandfathers, girls with mothers and grandmothers. Quiet kids do not move. Tough, accustomed. I said that it is not the first time for anyone to pray for Sunday in Jalovik.
It’s just us.
And we feel very nice. I’m watching, blinking. I’m amazed by this naturalness. Simple beauty of life. Tradition. The goodness that comes out of every eye. Celebration without luxury. Oh, what a holiday.
Yesterday, I thought that “the church of Jalovik was only a church erected in 1938 …” So Wikipedia told me. Now I know this is a village, society, and a sanctuary. And a nice one.
Place of faith and hope. Place for “Save us and help, God”, Place for “how do you live, friend?” I did not see you long ago … “, a place for” Watch our lucky family “, a place for” Ratko died, a Wonderful man “, a place for” Going to fish in Sabac “, a place for all those kind words. The church in Jalovik is more than a church.
The scene of the church is more than the scenery of the altar, baptistery, vaults, monumental yellow columns. More than priests, more than candles and burning candles. This is a scene of life. Rural life in 2018. The spirit and atmosphere that pervades and makes me breathe deeply, deeply, getting better and faster, so touched that some inexplicable tears come to me while the five-year-old hand is baptized and whispered as the mother taught them: In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit . Amin.
This article is a part of the project “Seven miracles of Vladimirci”, supported by the Vladimirci Municipality. Positions of the supported media project do not necessarily reflect statements of the organ supporting the project.
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