A Homage to Love (Word of Love)

Holy Stephen Lazarevic

Holy despot Stefan Lazarevic (the icon is the work of New Stjenik sisters)

1.
I, Despot Stefan,
To the sweetest, most beloved one,
Inseparable from my heart,
Always wished for, and much
Possessed of wisdom and
To my kingdom true,
(The name being said)
A warm greeting in the Lord
And unsparingly therein
Our merciful gifts.

2.
The Lord hath made both
spring and summer,
As also the Psalmist sang,
And all their delights:
The birds their swift and joyous flight,
The hills their peaks,
The groves their length,
The fields their breadth,
The fields their breadth,
The air its beauteous soft sounds,
And the soil its gifts
Of fragrant flowers and grass,
And for man's being itself
its renewal and joy;
But who is worthy enough
to recount all this?

Paradise fresco detail from Gracanica monastery

3.But all these
And other wondrous works of God,
Which even the sharpest mind
Cannot perceive,
Love all surpasses
And no wonder is it
For God is love,
As saith John, the son of thunder.

4.
No room in love is there for lies,
For did not Cain, a stranger to love,
say unto Abel:
"Let us go into the field".

5.
Pure and keen
Is the work of love,
And every virtue it surpasses.


6.
As David rightly sang:
Love is "like precious ointment upon the head,
That ran down upon the beard,
Even Aaron's beard:
As the dew of Hermon
That descended upon the mountains of Zion".

7.
Youths and maidens,
For love so apt,
Embrace love,
But with hurt to youth or maidenhood,
Whereby our nature unites with godliness
And thus becomes divine.
Do not aggrieve, the Apostle saith,
The sacred Holy Spirit,
Which you publicly acclaimed
As at a baptism.

8.
Together we were, and close to each other,
In body and in soul,
But did the mounts dissever us
Or the rivers?
As David saith: "Ye mountains of Gilboa,
Let there be no dew, neither let there be rain
For Saul you did not save
Nor Jonathan".
O the mercifulness of David,
Hear, ye Kings, o Hear!
It is Saul you are bewailing, o found one?
For I found, saith the Lord,
A man after my own heart.

9.
May the winds collide with the rivers,
And run them dry,
As did the sea for Moses,
The judges as for Joshua,
And Jordan for the arc of the covenant.

10.
And may we be together again,
And see each other again,
And meet again in love,
For His sake,
For whom glory be with the Father
And the Holy Spirit
Forever and ever.
Amen

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Fresco of St. Stephen Lazarevic from Manasija monastery

Stefan Lazarević known also as Stevan the Tall (Стеван Високи, l. 1377 – 19 July 1427) was the son of Holy martyred king Lazar and queen Milica. He was one of their eight children. Despot Stephen successfully ruled Serbia with the titles of Prince (1393-1402) and Despot (1402-1427) . In  his time he was one of the best knights and warriors. He introduced knightly tournaments, modern battle tactics, and firearms to Serbia, and his literary works made him one of the greatest Serbian writers in the Middle Ages. Despot Stefan was a very pious Christian, the founder of Koporin and Manasija monasteries and Resava literacy school which was a center for correcting, translating, and transcribing manuscripts.

Stefan Lazarević wrote three original literary works:

• The Grave Sobbing for prince Lazar (1389)
• The Inscription on the Kosovo Marble Column (1404)
• A Homage to Love (1409), a poetic epistle to his brother Vuk.

Stefan's biographer Constantine the Philosopher in "Life of Stefan Lazarević" described his ruler: He was known to the people by puzzle of his eyes, which are  similar to the Sun and sunlight, from which we receive the light rays, but not the whole essence.