SUBIĆ: ORTHODOX CANDLEMAS IS SYMBOL OF STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION, IT SHOULD BE COMMEMORATED WITH DIGNITY

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 12 /SRNA/ - Orthodox Candlemas symbolizes the essential struggle for liberation and it is very important to commemorate such a significant holiday with dignity within the shared spiritual and cultural space of the Serbian people, Radovan Subić, a docent at the Department of History at the Faculty of Philosophy in Banja Luka, told SRNA.

"Orthodox Candlemas is a shared Serbian holiday," Subić said ahead of the upcoming joint celebration of Statehood Day of Serbia and Statehood Day of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka. Subić particularly emphasized that in 1804, when the Serbs began their struggle against the Dahije /leaders of Ottoman janissary units/, more Serbs lived in the Bosnian Vilayet than in Serbia. "By 1805, the first songs about Karađorđe were being sung, and there are also statements from an Orthodox priest from Prijedor who said, `We dreamed that Karađorđe would come and free us,`" said Subić. He reminded that on Candlemas in 1804, Serbia was an Ottoman frontier province ruled by the Dahije, rebels against the sultan, who exercised absolute tyranny and terror over the Serbian population. “At that time, people were thinking about bare survival, existence, the most basic issues. On Orthodox Candlemas in 1835, they were discussing the constitution, the highest legal act. Serbia was practically a state that year, compared to the Pashaluk of the early 19th century," Subić emphasized. He said that during that period, the process of the Serbian revolution was unfolding, in two phases. "The first phase was armed, lasting until 1815, during which the Serbs fought with weapons. In 1815, the struggle for autonomy began, which ended in 1833 with the famous Third Hatt-i Şharif, followed by the abolition of feudalism and the constitution," Subić said. He reminded that Serbia began to celebrate Orthodox Candlemas in 1878 and continued doing so until 1918. "When the Serbs found themselves in a common state, other holidays began to be celebrated, and new ideas started to emerge. At the end of the last century, that great illusion was broken, and the Serbian people began to return to their roots. In 2002, Orthodox Candlemas officially began to be celebrated again, and it took more than 20 years for a new generation to grow, for Orthodox Candlemas to start being more widely accepted," Subić said. On June 8 of last year, the All-Serbian Assembly adopted a conclusion that February 15, Statehood Day of Serbia – Orthodox Candlemas, should also be celebrated as Statehood Day of Republika Srpska and that this date should be jointly celebrated. This year, Republika Srpska will officially celebrate Orthodox Candlemas as Statehood Day for the first time, with a series of events under the slogan "Unity and Pride."