Mardarije Uskoković ( sr-Cyrl, Мардарије Ускоковић, 22 December 1889 – 12 December 1935) was the first

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

Bishop in the Diocese of America and Canada. He was canonized as a saint during the regular session of the

Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church () serves by Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Church constitution as the executive body of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod consists of five members: four bishops and the List ...

in May 2015 as Saint Mardarije of Lješanska, Libertyville and All America.

Life

Uskoković was born on 22 December 1889 in

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, near the area of

Kornet The 9M133 Kornet (; "Cornet", NATO reporting name AT-14 Spriggan, export designation Kornet-E) is a Russian man-portable anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) intended for use against main battle tanks. It was first introduced into service with the ...

in the region of

Lješanska nahija Lješanska nahija ( sr-Cyrl, Љешанска нахија) is a historical region in eastern Montenegro. It was a ''nahija'' (sub-district) of the Ottoman Empire. In the administration of the Principality of Montenegro, the nahija was part of Old ...

. His father Petar "Pero" was a tribal captain and mother Jelena "Jela" hailed from the famous

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

Božović Božović (Cyrillic: ''Божовић'', ; plural: ''Božovići, Божовићи'') is a Montenegrin and Serbian surname, and is one of the most common surnames in Montenegro and Serbia. Given that he came from a notable family, he was allowed to further his education, first attending primary school in

Rijeka Crnojevića Rijeka Crnojevića ( cnr-Cyrl, Ријека Црнојевића, lit=River of Crnojević noble family, Crnojević) is a town in Montenegro on the eponymous Rijeka Crnojevića (river), Rijeka Crnojevića River, near the shore of Lake Skadar lake, ...

and secondary school (gymnasium) in

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

and then in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. He travelled to Studenica in 1905, where he was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

and received the name Mardarije. He stayed in Studenica for a year and a half, after which he went to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

for further education. He spent the next twelve years in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In September 1907, he continued his education at the Theological School in

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in western Ukraine. He was seventeen then. After two school years, at his request in 1908 he went to the Chisinau Theological Seminary in

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Moldavia. In 1908, he became a hieromonk, and received the rank of sinđel in 1912. He finished the seminary in 1912. He spent the next five years as a hieromonk in the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexa ...

. He was admitted to the

Saint Petersburg Theological Academy The Saint Petersburg Theological Academy () is a higher education institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The academy prepares theologians, clergymen, singers and icon writers for the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

. Although he had one more year of study left, at the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he went to

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

to be with his people (Belgrade was under siege). He arrived on the first Sunday in August [1914]. and he first appeared Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci, to the Belgrade Metropolitan Serbian Patriarch Dimitrije, Dimitriju. 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 river Volga, the mountain Ural Mountains, Ural, the Caucasus, and the Siberia. He inspired prisoners of Slovenian origin with Slavophile ideas. The clergyman Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, Montenegrin Metropolitanate graduated in 1916 from the Petrograd Spiritual Academy. In the same city, he also studied church law at the Faculty of Law. 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. 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 monastery Rakovica Monastery, Rakovice and the headmaster of the first monastic school in Serbia. 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. On 1 December 1923, he was appointed administrator of the Serbian American-Canadian bishopric, replacing Nikolaj Velimirović, who he had worked as an assistant for. Uskoković subsequently became the first bishop in the Diocese of North America and recognized as such by all Serbian Orthodox Bishops with the exception of Velimirović. That same year he bought a ten-acre property in Libertyville, Illinois near Chicago for $15,000 and built the Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery and Seminary, St. Sava Monastery. In his will, Mardarije asked that the bishops of the Serbian church in America be enthroned there in the future. The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected him bishop of the newly established diocese in America on 7 December 1925. His consecration took place on Palm Sunday on 25 April 1926. Because of his poor health, he could not travel to Belgrade to be present for the ceremony. He died at the hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, in Michigan on 12 December 1935. He was buried in the gate of the Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery and Seminary, Saint Sava Monastery in Libertyville.

Works

* ''The Quiet Corner of Christ'' * ''Anthology of Sermons '' * ''A vow to the Russian people''

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Sveti Mardarije - žitije
accessed 12 May 2017 .
Revealed relics of the first Serbian bishop in America (SPC, May 11, 2017)

Sabor u slavu novoobretenog Sveti Mardarija (SPC, July 16, 2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uskokovic, Mardarije 1889 births 1935 deaths Serbs of Montenegro Serbian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 20th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs Saint Petersburg Theological Academy alumni