One of the saints canonized in Serbia in 2004 was actually born in Gary Indiana. St. Varnava Nastic lived in Gary for the first eight years of his life and then returned to Serbia with his family. He always considered himself to be both American and Serb and maintained a close relationship with his original parish back in Gary Indiana. In Serbia St. Varnava became a monk and eventually a bishop. He was known for his high level of integrity and his devotion to Christ. St. Varnava had this to say about his election to the episcopate:

“The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church with His Holiness Kyr Gavrilo at her head, guided by the Holy Spirit, has chosen my unworthy self as a bishop of the Church of Christ. By this election it has condemned me to this highest sacrifice, it has bestowed on me the greatest honor that can be shown to a mortal man. And I, at this moment and in this place, in the inadequate words of human speech, with all my soul and all my heart give thanks to HIs Holiness the Patriarch and the Hierarchs of the Serbian Fatherland for granting me the honor of Golgatha. All that I can say, and the most that I can say, is that I will Joyfully ascend my Golgatha, and that I will never substitute this honor with any other honor under God’s sun. For a high honor in Christ’s Church means also a high sacrifice.”

St. Varnava did indeed ascend his Golgatha. The Communist Government allowed him exactly one sermon before his arrest. Here are a few excerpts from that homily:

“The state Five Year Plan sets the electrification of our country as one of the chief pillars of our future wealth and power. And truly, the electrification of a country represents the power of that country. …Who would not wish such a bright thing for one’s country? Who but an idiot or a traitor? …

I think that in my plan too electrification should be given an honored and important place. In fact, I think it should be given the first and most honored place of all in my plan, but the electrification I am thinking of is not a force to overcome material darkness nor a power that moves machines made of iron. The electrification I am thinking of, Christians, is the light of Christ’s Gospel, the power whereby Christ won over the world. …

Electrify your souls brothers and sisters, and chase from them the darkness of faithlessness and atheism. Strengthen your mind and your reason and your character by the power of Christ’s electricity. … unless you enlighten your souls with Christ, your streets will nevertheless be ruled by lethal darkness and opaque night. ”

And on he goes talking about other 5 year plan goals,–industrialization –but what good is that without a moral life. Germany industrialized and used it for genocide. The five year plan called for 90,000 more workers but Christian workers are needed: “If our young people do not know how to use the steering wheel and the brakes of their passions, their vehicle will go into a ditch despite all its vocational and technological culture. Didn’t Hitler’s youth have excellent knowledge of how to drive cars and pilot planes? Despite this they drove themselves and their people into destruction and shame. Yes, because they had no moral culture.”

He talks about the Five Year plan’s goal of the liberation of women –but what is that worth in a culture enslaved to adultery and lust. The State wanted to eliminate illiteracy. A worthy goal he said but who is illiterate as those who do not know the letters G-O-D ? He describes how many had become illiterate overnight, forgetting how to read the simpler alphabet of only three letters.

Truly this was a dangerous man and ther Yugoslavian state recognized this and arrested him. In prison, even the criminals called him “the holy one” for his way of life and right before his release the authorities staged an accident meant to kill him and other dangerous criminals. They transferred him to another prison. In transit the prisoner’s car was deliberately disconnected and left in the path of another train. Despite the failure of emergency personel to respond to this accident for many hours, Bp. Varnava survived with a seriously broken leg, though many others died. He was finally released on the condition of his retirement as “disabled.” This disability was malleable to the state’s intent. He was too disabled to “work” as a bishop, but his disability could not be admitted or applied to any of the state’s disability benefits–like receiving a donated car without paying the tax.

His friends from the parish in Gary Indiana set him a Peugot so that he could help transport clergy to visit the sick, and visit rural parishes that had not seen a bishop in 100 years. Concerned that secret service agents were wasting gas following him, he let them ride in the backseat. It was these agents who referred him to a dentist when he needed dental work. He came home with all the symptoms of poisoning and after his death the state doctors came for an autopsy and removed most of his vital organs so that no proof of his poisoning would remain.

Holy Father Varnava pray to God for us!

Icon written by the hand of Nun Katherine of the St. Andrew Rublev Iconography school.