Stefan Lastavica

---

Stefan Lastavica

Stefan Lastavica also spelled Stevan (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Ластавица; 14 September 1908 - 10 May 1966) was the first bishop of the newly-organized Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America and Canada in 1963. He was a church music scholar, publishing a reference book for choirs still in use today.

Biography

Lastavica was born in 1908. His father Jovan was a priest in Divoš, Sremska Mitrovica for many years. Lastavica graduated from elementary school in his native village, Gymnasium of Karlovci, the Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije in Sremski Karlovci, the Serbian Orthodox Seminary of St. Sava in Belgrade, and the Faculty of Theology of the University of Belgrade at Belgrade.

After graduating from the seminaries and the university, he was employed at the court of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovac, and after his ordination to the rank of deacon, he was also the secretary at the same court. He was elected secretary of the Holy Synod of Bishops in 1951, and he did not stay in this position for long. Talented in Serbian Church chant, he was appointed voice teacher at the Seminary of Saint Sava.

In 1955 he joined the monastic order and became a priest after his wife died at the age of 47 in Belgrade. The following year, he went to Trieste to serve as parish priest at the Saint Spyridon Serbian Orthodox Church for four years. In Trieste as a parish priest, he was ordained a presbyter and promoted to the rank of unmarried archpriest. In 1960 Lastavica decided to emigrate from Trieste to Windsor in the Dominion of Canada as a political refugee. In early 1960 the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church felt that there was a need in North America to expand the former Diocese of America and Canada into three dioceses and four deaneries. Unfortunately, Bishop Dionisije Milivojević was against the idea and was not up to the great task and expectations.

Taken into account the needs and desires and the petitions of the majority of the clergy and people of the Diocese of America and Canada seeking the expansion, the Holy Assembly of Bishops decided due to the great size and wide expanses of this diocese, to elect more bishops for North America. Because Bishop Dionisije categorically refused to accept the decision of the Holy Assembly of Bishops during their sessions on 13 February 1962 and on 25 May of the same year, he personally came to loggerheads with the delegates of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a schism ensued which resulted in lawsuits and conflicting accusations from both sides . It took three decades for the schism to end.

Diocese of Eastern America and Canada

The formation of the Diocese of Eastern America and Canada had its ups and downs, as was the beginning in Windsor for V. Rev. Stefan Lastavica who on 11 May 1963 was offocially elected bishop of the newly proposed Diocese of Eastern America and Canada after the North American diocese was divided and reorganized into three bishoprics, with Bishop Gregory Udički heading the Western American Diocese and Firmilian Ocokoljić to administer the Mid-Western American Diocese. All three were appointed about the same year by the Holy Episcopal Serbian Orthodox Council (Synod) in Belgrade to lead the ever-growing Serbian denomination's 74 parishes and more than 200,000 adherents in the United States of America and Canada. Bishop Stefan's consecration took place on 13 July 1963, in the church of the Holy Propehet Elijah in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, officiated by Bishops Chrysostom of Braničevo and Visarion of Banat .

The beginning of the Diocese of eastern America and Canada was froth with many difficulties and uncertainties, as was the beginnings of Bishop Stefan's archpastoral work. Immediately, upon his consecration, as an energetic administrator, Bishop Stefan organized all the necessary diocesean bodies. In time, he succeeded in filling all the vacant parishes. He ordained four candidates to priesthood. Through his labours and efforts, a new church-school congregation was established in London, Ontario in Canada. He blessed three churches, three schools, five parish homes, and two church halls. After three years, Bishop Stefan moved the See of the Diocese from Clairton, Pennsylvania to Cleveland, Ohio. Bishop Stefan's health suddenly declined. He died on 11 May 1966, at age 53.

St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Church in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania that hosted his consecration three years earlier had the sad task of arranging his internment in 1966. The administration of the Eastern America and Canada Diocese was entrusted to Bishop Dr. Firmilijan (Ocokoljich) of the Midwestern American Diocese. A year later, a second bishop of Eastern America and Canada the Vicar Bishop of Moravica and professor at the Theological Faculty, Dr. Sava Vuković, was enthroned in the St. Sava Church in Cleveland, Ohio, on 16 July 1967, of the same year.

He was buried in the Serbian Orthodox cemetery in Aliquippa.

Musical activity

A gifted singer (dramatic baritone), with a personal style in liturgical singing, extremely musical, Bishop Stefan began to engage in musicological and melographic work in the field of Serbian church chant and decided to publish his seminal work Osmoglasnik (1951). Osmoglasnik is a Slavic term refering to the collection of hymnsfrom the cycle of eight tones (osam glasa) sung for vespers, matins and liturgy.

The lengthy book is now used as a reference work for choirs. In his foreword, he wrote:

I tried to create a melodic accent, similar to the accent of the Serbian language, but not at any cost, even at the cost of losing the character of the voice. Therefore, there are places in this Osmoglasniku where a confirmed melodic line could be sacrificed for the sake of the linguistic accent.

Praznično Pojanje is a holiday songbook in two volumes by Stefan Lastavica, published by the Diocese of Eastern America and Canada under the editorship of Professor Voislav Ilich (1969).

Today Bishop Lastavica is mentioned in the same breath as Kornelije Stanković, Stevan Mokranjac, Tihomir Ostojić, and others.

Legacy

• A Serbian Orthodox choir in Chicago is named after him

Literature

• Пузовић, Предраг (1996). „Епархије Српске православне цркве у расејању” (PDF). Богословље: Часопис Православног богословског факултета у Београду. 40 (1-2): 87—96. Архивирано из оригинала (PDF) на датум 08 June 2019. Приступљено 25 March 2018.
• Знамените личности Срема, Сремска Митровица, Музеј Срема, 2003. године
• Nedeljko Grgurevich: "Introduction to Serbian Orthodox Church History", Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1991, pages 135-137

See also

• Stanislav Binički
• Kornelije Stanković
• Kosta Manojlović
• Petar Krstić
• Miloje Milojević
• Stevan Hristić
• Stevan Mokranjac
• Isidor Bajić
• Davorin Jenko
• Jovan Đorđević
• Josif Marinković
• Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church (Montreal)

References

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: Стефан Ластавица

This article "Stefan Lastavica" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Stefan Lastavica. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---