rosmarinus2009.09.06 [13:20]
For Antonio about Jefimija:
Jefimija was born 1349 as Jelena and was a Serbian nun and known as the first Serbian poetess. She was the daughter of kesar Voichna in the time of Car Dusan. She married Jovan Ugljiesa the ruler of Serres that died on 26 September 1371 in the Battle of Maritsa. After she lived in Serres and later in Krusevac at the court of Car Lazar.
After the defeat of the Serbs against the Ottomans in the battle of Kosovo, Jefimija joined the Zupanja Monastery with Carica Milica and later they joined monastery Ljubostina.Her early life was a tragedy: she lost her family, her house, all her possession, income, land. Later as abbess she was involved in diplomatic affairs, like helping Princess Milica to get intercession for Stefan Lazarevic who refused to participate in the campagne in Bosnia of 1398. She also helped to get the body of Holy Petka Paraskeva back to Serbia, so her mortal remains were hold in the Sveta Petka Church in Belgrade until 1521 (now they're in Romania).
Her most meaningful work (and her first) is the eulogy for Knez Lazar (Похвала кнезу Лазару), a prayer in the shape of a poem. The text is preserved as a embroided blanked (the shroud for Lazar Herbeljanovic) that was made in the Ljubostina Monastery around 1402.
Translation Of Jefimija`s poem in English:
In the beautiful of this world you raised yourself from your youth
O, New Martyr, Knez Lazar,
And God's strong and glorious hand
Pointed at you, among all the lords of the earth.
You lorded over your fatherland
And with your goodness delighted
The Christians under your wing.
And with a martyr's heart and a wish for blessing
You went against the dragon
And against the enemies of the holy churches.
Having deemed it unbearable for your heart
To see the Christians of your fatherland
Be conquered by the turks
In order to achieve these
To leave the unstable height of earthly lordship
And to spill your blood
And to join the soldiers of the heavenly emperor.
And so you achieved two wishes:
You killed the dragon
And received a martyr's wreath from God.
And now do not forget your beloved children
Whom you left orphaned by your transition.
For since you achieved the bliss in the eternal celestial joy
Many hardship and suffering fell upon your children
And in many misfortunes they spend their lives,
Because they are conquered by the Turks
And they need your help.
For this I beg you,
Pray to the universal ruler for your children,
And for all those who serve them with love and faith,
for they are fettered with worries,your beloved children
Those who ate their bread raised a conspiracy against them
And forgot your goodness,
o Martyr.
But since you passed from this life,
You know the worries and sufferings of your children
And as a martyr you are free before God.
Kneel before the Lord who wreathed you,
Pray that your children live long lives
In happiness pleasing to God.
Pray thar Orhodox Christian faith amply endures in your fatherland
Ask the victorious God to grant victory
to your beloved children, Knez Stephan and Vuk,
Against visible and invisible enemies.
For if we receive God's help
We will give you praise and gratitude
Call for a meeting of your fellow martyrs
And pray with them to the glorifying God,
Warn George
Move Demetrios
Persuade both Theodores
Take Merkourios and Prokopios
And do not leave out the forty martyrs of Sebaseia
In whose suffering now fight your children,
Knez Stephan and Vuk.
Pray that the help from God be given them.
Come then to our aid, wherever you are.
Consider my small contribution
and count it among many,
For I did not grant you the praise you deserve,
But only as far as my small mind allowed,
And so I expect but small rewards
For you were not selfish, My Lord and Martyr,
In this decaying and short lasting world,
But you are more generous in the everlasting and magnificent
That you received from God.
For you fed me profusely
When I was foreign in a foreign land
And now I beg you both:
To feed me
and to assuage the fierce storm in my soul and body
Jefimija humbly offers you this, O Holy One
