John the Baptist - a Serb

by Aleksandar Ciric

Ever since the beginning of February the Belgrade-based dailies "Politika ekspres" and "Vecernje novosti" have been heavily involved with the alleged discovery of a Saint John's hand, a particle from the cross where Jesus was crucified and an icon of Virgin Mary which was painted by Saint Luke himself. The precious relics have been stored in the treasury of the Cetinje Monastery for at least fifteen years (most likely for the entire 25 years) and it is well known that they have been in Yugoslavia for over seven decades

The headlines which read, "A Grand Sign from God", "The Secret of a Holy Hand", "Ignorant of the Treasure", "A Policeman Revealed a Secret", "The Battle for the Holy Grail of the Balkans", seem to have fulfilled the purpose.

For two months now the stories have been written that the hand together with a particle of the cross and the icon of Virgin Mary was taken, where it traveled, who tried to snatch it and why and then surrendered and what his hopes were...Finally, on January 22, 1994 on a broadcast produced by Montenegrin Television Amfilohije Radovic, the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the coastal region, informed the public that "the holy hand of John the Baptist and a part of the holy cross are being kept in the Cetinje Monastery."

"There is no doubt that the hand, which is carefully guarded in the Cetinje Monastery, belongs to St. John the Baptist. It is a relic which is of vital importance not only for us and the entire Orthodox world, but for all Christians at large, and the fact that we, the Serbs, have discovered it in this historical moment is a grand sign from God," Metropolitan Amfilohije told "Vecernje novosti", stressing that it is a well preserved hand with three fingers while the other two are missing. One should be on the Holy Mountain, while there is no trace of the fifth finger. Nevertheless, the Serbian Church is doing everything within its power so that all fingers are accounted for.

John the Baptist was also known as Harbinger since he performed a ceremony of baptising. Not only did he announce the arrival of the Messiah but also recognised him in the figure of Jesus from Nazareth. He was decapitated on the orders of "czar" Irod.

John was buried and rested in peace all until Luke arrived in Sevastia. He asked that John's body be given to him as a reward for his sermons, but the locals gave him the right hand only. It was later honoured in Antiochia, perhaps as the only thing left of John the Baptist after all Christian relics were destroyed. Several centuries later, some deacon allegedly stole the hand from Antiochia, at the time controlled by the Arabs, and took it to Constantinople.

A former superior of the Cetinje Monastery, Marko Kalanj, reconstructed the whereabouts of John's hand, a particle of the Jesus's cross and the icon of Virgin Mary painted by Luke in the following way: on the occasion of declaring independence of the Serbian Church in 1219 Rastko Nemanjic, who later became Saint Sava, somewhere in the east, most likely in Constantinople, bought or received three relics as a guarantee for the independence...Saint Sava took them to the Zica Monastery from where they disappeared during the Turkish conquests."

"We must not give up this relic, the hand of St. John the Baptist, whatever the price...", is a categorical statement by a person signed in "Politika ekspres" as Grand acquaintance with the secret orders and mysteries of the Vatican. "That relic actually represents the Holy Grail of the Balkans. It arrived in the dynasty under the auspices of King Alexandar Djordjevic and stood as a symbol of its power."

What may be taken to resemble a testimony boils down to a story that King Petar II, on his way to emigration in London in April 1941, left the relics in the Ostrog Monastery along with other treasures. In 1951, after WW II, the relics were taken away from Ostrog on the orders of the then President of Montenegro Blaz Jovanovic. Around 1968 the three relics were handed to the Cetinje Monastery where they were exhibited.

Ljubo Kapisoda, the former director of the Bureau for protection of cultural monuments of Montenegro, told "Vecernje novosti", "It is correct that the relics were kept in the vault of the state security but the Ministry of Culture handed them over to the Museums and Monasteries two and a half decades ago...They were registered as ordinary relics of unknown origin. That did not even look like a hand. It will eventually turn out that St. John was a Serb."

Mladen Lompar and Tanja Pejovic, who assisted arranging the exhibition, added, "There really was a hand in one of the boxes, but it looked so horrible that we had to cover it...There was no mention of it being a hand of John the Baptist. I still find it hard to believe it. There was no concrete data about the origin of the relics. Those responsible in the Cetinje Monastery were ignorant as well when we asked and they received the relics from the state authorities."

What is beyond dispute is the fact that the relics are covered with gold and jewels. "They are very precious and a work of experts. They must have been made in Russia in 19th century," said Tanja Pejovic. It is irrelevant here how many fingers are on the alleged hand and what it looks like. But the question is how come that a discovery of such precious relics has come only now and is attributed to Metropolitan Amfilohije.

Amfilohije told "Vecernje novosti" that the state did not bother to advertise itself regardless of its attitude to religion. There is a valid explanation for such an assessment: the hand (as well as other relics) were sitting in the shadow because they are allegedly on the list of some (state) deposits as a guarantee for paying back international loans.