Αuthors
Saint Nicholas Velimirovich
Short biography
Saint Nicholas Velimirovich

St Nicholas Velimirovic was born in 1881 in the village of Lelits of western Serbia.

He studied at the Orthodox Seminary of St Sava in Belgrade. He became a Dr of Theology at the University of Bern while in 1909 he also became a Dr of Philosophy at the University of Geneva. In the same year he was tonsured as a monk. In 1919 he became a bishop of Zitsa. In 1941 the Nazis captured him and forced him to remain at the monastery of Lambasting.  Later on, he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp along with Patriarch Gabriel.

At the end of the war he did not return to communist Yugoslavia but took refuge in the US where he taught at various Christian Orthodox University Schools and Seminars.

He reposed in March 1956. His holy remains were transferred back to his country in 1991.

In 2003, the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church recognized him as a Saint, celebrating hise memory on the 18th March and the 3rd of May.