News and Events - December 2012

NEWS AND EVENTS - Tuesday, December 18, 2012

IN MEMORIAM:
BISHOP CHRYSOSTOM OF ZICHA

On December 5/18, 2012, the feastday of St. Sava the Sanctified, His Grace Bishop Chrysostom of Zicha fell asleep in the Lord in the early, morning hours at his episcopal residence in Kraljevo. 

Bishop Chrysostom (Stolic) was born in 1939 in Ruma where he finished his elementary and secondary studies. He went to the monastery after finishing his secondary school and was tonsured and ordained to the rank of hierodeacon by Bishop Pavle, then bishop of Ras-Prizren. In 1966 he went to America where he graduated from the Holy Trinity Theological Academy in Jordanville, majoring in liturgical studies. After completion of his studies he served the Serbian parishes in Chicago and the surrounding areas. Fulfilling his monastic oath, he went to Mount Athos, to Monastery Hilandar. He spent twenty years at this monastery. He was elevated to archimandrite by Patriarch Demetrios of Constantinople. He stood out as a monastic and was the first epistat (protos) of the Holy Mountain, for two terms. He served as librarian at the monastery. He was constantly developing and growing spiritually while serving this post, growing in both the monastic podvig and intellectually. The fruit of his librarian work is the book Svetacnik, in two volumes, which he wrote and published in Serbian, and he also prepared The Liturgy of St. James the Apostle, translated into Serbian.

The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, at their regular meeting in Belgrade May 14-24, 1988, elected archimandrite Chrysostom as bishop of Western America. Bishop Chrysostom administered this diocese until 1992, when he was elected bishop of Banat. In this diocese, besides renovating the episcopal residence, a number of churches and church buildings, he built monastery Srediste near the city of Vrsac. He also produced a great amount of publications.

In 2003 he was elected bishop of Zicha. His enthronement, at Monastery Zicha, was officiated by Patriarch Pavle of Serbia.

As bishop of Zicha, bishop Chrysostom of blessed memory launched an effective building and publications action in the diocese. The diocese received a new diocesan center in Kraljevo, so that the administrative work and other activities would not hinder the monastic life in Zicha. He renovated deserted monasteries and consecrated many new churches, all in the glory of God and the spiritual good of the honorable people of this God protected Diocese, which had been the see of bishops such as Jefrem (Bojovic), St. Bishop Nikolaj, German (later patriarch), Vasilije (Kostic) and Stephan (Boca).

In his diocese Bishop Chrysostom renewed the diocesan periodical Zichki blagovesnik and set off publishing works in the diocese, publishing liturgical works, theological and historical. For many years he was editor of the calendar Crkva, a publication of the Holy Synod of Bishops. He was a member of the Committee of the Holy Synod of Bishops in preparing the Sluzebnik, Srbljak and other liturgical books. He also published in the Serbian language, Sveto Jevandjelje, Apostol, Arhijerejski Cinovnik, as well as twelve volumes of the Minej.  

The Requiem Liturgy will be served on Thursday, December 20, 2012 at St. Sava Church in Kraljevo beginning at 9am. The funeral service will follow. Afterward the bodily remains of the bishop of Zicha, Bishop Chrysostom of blessed memory will be taken to Monastery Rujan, near Uzica where, according to his wishes, he will be buried.

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