Life
Saint Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović was born in 1329 in Prilepac near Novo Brdo, in a distinguished noble family. From his youth he served at the court of Emperor Stefan Dušan, where he stood out for his wisdom, honor, and piety. He married Milica, of the holy lineage of the Nemanjić dynasty, and with her had several children — among them the blessed Jefimija (later the nun Jefimija, the first Serbian poetess).
After the death of Emperor Uroš in 1371, with the extinction of the Nemanjić dynasty, the Serbian land fragmented into several territories under different feudal lords. Lazar gradually unified Moravian Serbia and, although he had a claim to the imperial title, through Christian humility retained the title of “prince.” In 1375 he reconciled the Serbian Church with the Ecumenical Patriarchate (the schism had arisen after Dušan’s proclamation of the Patriarchate in 1346) and thus restored canonical fullness to the Patriarchate of Peć.
Prince Lazar was a great founder: he built the monastery of Ravanica, renewed numerous churches and foundations, and protected the Holy Mountain and the Hilandar brotherhood. His court in Kruševac was the center of spiritual and cultural life on the eve of the sunset of the medieval Serbian state.
The great trial came with the invasion of the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Murat I. Lazar gathered the Serbian, Bosnian, and Albanian nobility and on June 15, 1389 (by the Old Calendar), on Vidovdan, clashed with the Turks on the Field of Kosovo. According to tradition, on the eve of battle the prince received Holy Communion with his army in his tent and chose the “heavenly kingdom” over the “earthly kingdom” — a choice that was sealed with his martyr’s blood. In the battle the flower of the Serbian chivalric nobility fell. Lazar was captured, brought before Sultan Murat (who was also mortally wounded in the battle, most likely by Miloš Obilić) and beheaded on the same day.
The body of the holy prince was first buried in the church of the Ascension in Priština, and then translated to his foundation of Ravanica. Amid the threat from the Turks his relics were moved in 1690, in the Great Migration under Patriarch Arsenios III, to the monastery of Vrdnik in Srem. Not until 1989, on the six hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, were the relics solemnly returned to the monastery of Ravanica, where they still exude myrrh today and are a source of many miracles.
The image of Prince Lazar became fused with Vidovdan — the ancient Slavic date which Christianity consecrated to the holy martyr Vitus, and which the Serbian people have always remembered as the day of a great choice between heavenly and earthly justice. The Kosovo Testament — the commitment to the eternal Kingdom of Christ — through Serbian epic poetry and church tradition became the foundation of the spiritual identity of the people.
Tropar (Tone 3)
The beautiful vine of thy vineyard hath borne imperishable fruit, O Serbian land, having given forth the blood of thy prince Lazar, who abides in the heavens with those of old, and intercedes for us with Christ God, that He may save our souls.
Kontakion (Tone 8)
Having manfully undertaken the warfare for Christ, with a courageous spirit entering the battle, O glorious prince Lazar — having dyed thy earthly garment with martyr’s blood, thou didst gain the heavenly kingdom; wherefore we glorify thee, intercessor of the Serbian race.
About the Feast
Vidovdan is observed on June 28 by the New (Gregorian) calendar, corresponding to June 15 by the Old (Julian) calendar. Though it is not among the most common patron feasts in Serbia, Vidovdan carries exceptional national and spiritual weight — it is the day of the Kosovo covenant, of remembrance, and of prayer for all the martyrs of the Serbian people.
In the monastery of Ravanica and in all churches dedicated to Saint Prince Lazar, a solemn archiepiscopal Liturgy is served on this day. Many families in central Serbia, Šumadija, and Pomoravlje observe Vidovdan as a family commemoration — they prepare slava bread, koljivo, and a Lenten table, since the feast most often falls within the Apostles’ Fast (when fish is permitted on the feast day itself). The people spend the day in quiet solemnity: commemorating fallen warriors, visiting monuments, singing epic songs of Kosovo.
Vidovdan is marked in Serbian history by a series of decisive events — the Sarajevo assassination in 1914, the adoption of the Vidovdan Constitution in 1921, the Cominform Resolution in 1948 — making it simultaneously a church feast and a national day of remembrance. The feast table is prepared with dignity, with respect for the sacrifice of the ancestors and with prayer for the eternal rest of all Kosovo martyrs.