SAINT SAVA NOMOKANON EMBEDDED IN SERBS’ IDENTITTY

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 2 /SRNA/ - The Saint Sava Nomokanon is embedded in the foundations of Serb identity, serving as proof of continuity, not only of the church but also of the state, legal, cultural, political, and civilizational continuity, it was emphasized at today's scientific and professional gathering in Banja Luka dedicated to this act.

The Minister for Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education of Republika Srpska Draga Mastilović stated that the Serb people understand what Saint Sava means in their historical consciousness, as he is a symbol of the unity of the Serb people, which is especially significant for Serbs today and for the preservation of the culture of remembrance.

He emphasized that the foundations of Serb statehood and spirituality were laid in the era of the Nemanjić dynasty, which should be a focus of research in Serb historiography, as they are not just part of our history but something that the Serb people preserved throughout centuries of slavery and still maintain today.

"Who nowadays protects Serb Kosovo and Metohija? It is protected by the undying caandles of the Nemanjićs," Mastilović told the press.

The Director of the Socio-Political Research Centre of Republika Srpska, Dušan Pavlović, stated that Saint Sava and his brother Stefan the First-Crowned managed, in a geopolitical situation similar to today's, to use a crisis and lay the foundations for the creation of a successful Serb state that developed into an empire.

"We are coming into a time when we will either unite all the forces of the Serb people, culture, and everything else to be able to develop, or we face the danger or challenge of becoming fewer or disappearing," Pavlović said.

Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Belgrade Đorđe Bubalo states that the Serb people are not sufficiently aware of the importance of the Saint Sava Nomokanon for the Serb state-building and church-building idea, and for the continuity of the Serb ethnic identity.

He noted that the Nomokanon cannot be separated from the autocephaly of the Serbian Church and that this act is proof that Saint Sava was the first Serb legislator.

Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade Dalibor Đukić emphasized that the Nomokanon is the foundation of medieval Serb statehood, as well as the renewal of Serb statehood through the centuries.

"The Serb people, wherever they are, base their statehood on the idea of restoring what Saint Sava began. The Nomokanon is the most comprehensive source of Serb medieval law, it had the greatest reception in the history of Serbs, and it spread across the entire Orthodox world," Đukić said.

He added that no other act by a Serbi has had such a history as the Saint Sava Nomokanon, which is still in effect today and represents the positive law of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The scientific and professional gathering "Saint Sava and Nomokanon - Culture, Statehood, Geopolitics, and Civilization" was organised by the Socio-Political Research Centre to mark the 850th anniversary of Saint Sava's birth, and it brought together eminent experts from the region.

Promotion of the phototype edition of the Nomokanon will be held Monday evening in Banja Luka, one of the 11 preserved copies that was once kept at the Tvrdoš Monastery in Trebinje.