Rafailo Momčilović Рафаило Момчиловић | |
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| Holyhieromartyr | |
| Born | Georgije Momčilović (1875-04-23)23 April 1875 Deronje,Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 3 September 1941(1941-09-03) (aged 66) Požega,Independent State of Croatia |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized | May 2000,Belgrade bySerbian Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 3 September (O.S. 21 August) |
Rafailo Momčilović (Serbian Cyrillic: Рафаило Момчиловић; 23 April 1875 – 3 September 1941) was aSerbian Orthodox cleric, abbot of theŠišatovac Monastery, andpainter. He was murdered in theGenocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia which took place during theSecond World War.
Persecution of Serbs in theIndependent State of Croatia began almost immediately after theinvasion of theKingdom of Yugoslavia byNazi Germany.Ustasha units, administrativecommissars and Ustasha youth took up residence in all Serbian Orthodox monasteries throughoutGreater Croatia. The monks who had the opportunity to flee, most often fled to eitherSerbia (from Croatia) or toMontenegro (fromDalmatia andBosnia and Herzegovina), and those who were caught were sent to internment camps atJasenovac or killed on the way.
Momčilović was kidnapped by theUstashe on 25 August 1941 and was tortured until his death on 3 September 1941 atPožega.[1] His burial site has yet to be found.
Today theSerbian Orthodox Church venerates him as a martyr and saint on 3 September.
The icons of the iconostasis ofRužica Church in Belgrade were painted by Rafailo Momčilović, who had gained his iconographic skills from Russian iconographers. It is significant to mention that Rafailo donated all his gain to the building ofChurch of Saint Sava in Belgrade, the work of which had started before World War II. Also, he painted the icons of the iconostasis in the Orthodox church of Gornji Kovilj.[2]
There is an art colony inVojvodina named after him.[3]
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