Mardarije of Lješanska, Libertyville and All America | |
|---|---|
 Saint Mardarije in 1926 | |
| Bishop of America and Canada,Venerable | |
| Born | (1889-12-22)22 December 1889 Kornet,Montenegro |
| Died | 12 December 1935(1935-12-12) (aged 45) Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized | May 29, 2015,Church of Saint Sava,Belgrade, Serbia byHoly Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church |
| Majorshrine | Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery and Seminary |
| Feast | 12 December |
Bishop Mardarije (Serbian Cyrillic:Епископ Мардарије, secular nameIvan Uskoković,Serbian Cyrillic:Иван Ускоковић; 22 December 1889 – 12 December 1935) was bishop of theSerbian Orthodox Church, the firstSerbian Orthodox Bishop in theDiocese of America and Canada. He was canonized as a saint during the regular session of theHoly Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in May 2015 asSaint Mardarije ofLješanska,Libertyville and All America.[1][2]
Uskoković was born on 22 December 1889 inPodgorica,Montenegro,[3][a] near the area ofKornet in the region ofLješanska nahija.[4] His father Petar "Pero" was a tribal captain and mother Jelena "Jela" hailed from the famousSerbianBožović family.[3]
Uskoković was baptized at the church in the village of St. George and given the name Ivan.[5] Given that he came from a notable family, he was allowed to further his education, first attending primary school inRijeka Crnojevića and secondary school (gymnasium) inCetinje and then inBelgrade,Serbia.[5]
He travelled toStudenica in 1905, where he was ordained adeacon and received the name Mardarije.[5][6] He stayed in Studenica for a year and a half, after which he went toMoscow for further education. He spent the next twelve years inRussia.[5] In September 1907, he continued his education at the Theological School inZhytomyr in western Ukraine. He was seventeen then. After two school years, at his request in 1908 he went to the Chisinau Theological Seminary incapital Moldavia. In 1908, he became a hieromonk, and received the rank of sinđel in 1912.[citation needed] He finished the seminary in 1912.
He spent the next five years as a hieromonk in theAlexander Nevsky Lavra. He was admitted to theSaint Petersburg Theological Academy. Although he had one more year of study left, at the outbreak ofWorld War I, he went toNiš to be with his people (Belgrade was under siege). He arrived on the first Sunday in August [1914]. and he first appearedto the Belgrade MetropolitanDimitriju. The Metropolitan thought that it would be more useful for him to return to Russia.
After returning to Russia, he began a series of lectures on the All-Slavic unification, which was in direct contradiction with the then European policy. In the summer of 1915, he was entrusted with the mission of visiting prisoners of war on the riverVolga, the mountainUral, theCaucasus, and theSiberia. He inspired prisoners of Slovenian origin with Slavophile ideas. The clergymanMontenegrin Metropolitanate graduated in 1916 from the Petrograd Spiritual Academy. In the same city, he also studied church law at the Faculty of Law.[7]
In 1917, he was sent to the United States by the Russian Orthodox Church to organize the Serbian Orthodox Church there. He served as head of the Serbian Mission, and at the All-Russian Council in 1919 in Cleveland he was elected Bishop.[6] Not wanting to be ordained without the approval of his home church, he returned to his home country where he was appointed as the rector of the monasteryRakovice and the headmaster of the first monastic school in Serbia.[6] He spent three years at the monastery, and he also gave lectures in the hall of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, at Universities, high schools, at the Faculty of Theology, and elsewhere. In 1923, he returned to America.[6]
On 1 December 1923, he was appointed administrator of the Serbian American-Canadian bishopric, replacingNikolaj Velimirović, who he had worked as an assistant for.[5][8] Uskoković subsequently became the first bishop in the Diocese of North America[8] and recognized as such by all Serbian Orthodox Bishops with the exception of Velimirović.[3] That same year he bought a ten-acre property inLibertyville, Illinois nearChicago for $15,000 and built theSt. Sava Monastery.[6][9] In his will, Mardarije asked that the bishops of the Serbian church in America be enthroned there in the future.[citation needed]
The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected him bishop of the newly established diocese in America on 7 December 1925.[5] His consecration took place onPalm Sunday on 25 April 1926.[5] Because of his poor health, he could not travel to Belgrade to be present for the ceremony.[6]
He died at the hospital inAnn Arbor, inMichigan on 12 December1935. He was buried in the gate of theSaint Sava Monastery in Libertyville.[10]
The relics of Saint Mardarije may also be venerated at the Greek Orthodox Church of Prophet Elias inFrankfurt,Germany.[1]
| Eastern Orthodox Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| New diocese | Bishop of America and Canada 1926–1935 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
