Central event to mark major Serbian holiday Vidovdan in Krusevac; Government to hold session there

Photo: Tanjug/Sava Radovanovic

To mark Serbia's major holiday Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day), a central state event and a Government session will be held on June 28 in the town of Krusevac, the Government of Serbia has confirmed to Tanjug.

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The Committee for Nurturing Traditions of Serbi's Liberation Wars is organizing the commemoration of Prince Lazar's reign. The event will inlcude the laying of a wreath at the Serbian Orthodox Ravanica Monastery, a meeting of the Government of Serbia, and a central state ceremony.

In the Ravanica Monastery, a memorial service will be held in the morning for Holy Prince Lazar and the Heroes of Kosovo, served by Bishop Ignjatije and the clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and which will be attended by Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.

He will be welcomed at the monastery by Bishop Ignjatije of Branicevo and Abbess Mother Marija. The guests will then bow in front of Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic's tomb and light candles.

The Government session will begin before noon in the Krusevac town hall, and at noon, Prime Minister Vucevic is planned to lay a wreath at the Monument to the Heroes of Kosovo.

The prime minister will then give a speech, and then tour the Tactical-Technical Corps, i.e. a display of weapons and equipment.

Vidovdan is a great national, religious, and state holiday during which Serbs express respect and gratitude to all those who fought for the fatherland.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, its believers, the Serbs in general, mark Vidovdan with special respect, primarily as a memory of the conscious sacrifice made by Prince Lazar, the Kosovo martyr, and all his soldiers during the Battle of Kosovo fought against the invading Turks on Vidovdan 1389.

All the subsequent liberation efforts made by the Serb nation were always done in the context of Kosovo. The key underpinning of the struggle to liberate the country and renew its statehood throughout the 19th century was the call to liberate Kosovo.

Vidovdan was marked with special attention at the state level in Serbia in 1889, the battle's 500th anniversary, when a large gathering was held in Krusevac. This is the town in central Serbia from which Prince Lazar set out for the Battle of Kosovo. It was then that a representative monument was built in the central square in Krusevac.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)