 September
11, 1950, Radojko and Stana Mladenovic gave birth to a son
Jovan in the village Dobrace, Arilje County, Serbia.
He completed elementary school
in the village. At eleven years of age, he went to Monastery
Klisura where he spent ten months. Thereafter he went to Monastery Studenica where
he spent the next thirty years from 1963 to 1993. He grew
up next to the holy relics of the Studenica saints and under
the wise tutelage of Father Julijan and Father Simeon.
In 1967, he attended the first
post-war theological seminary at Monastery Ostrog from which
he graduated in 1969. He was inducted and completed the military
service.
On April 24, 1971, Jovan was tonsured.
The following day, he was ordained a deacon and on July 25,
1973, he was ordained a priest. All three rites were performed
by the great Serbian bishop, His Grace Bishop Vasilije, at
Monastery Studenica. After his ordination, Jovan enrolled
in the five-year Seminary of Saint Sava from which he graduated
in 1974 (completing the course of study in three years). Due
to renovation work at Monastery Studenica, he didn't enroll
at the Theological Faculty in Belgrade until 1976. He graduated
in 1980.
Upon completing his studies, the
monk Jovan acceded to Abbot of Monastery Studenica, a position
he held for thirteen years. In 1983, he was called to the
rank of singelos. On the 800th anniversary of Monastery Studenica,
abbot Jovan became protosingelos and on the 600th anniversary
of the Battle of Kosovo, he became a archimandrite. All three
of these elevations were performed upon him by His Grace Bishop
Stefan of Monastery Zica.
May 26, 1993, while serving as
Abbot of Monastery Studenica, Jovan was elevated to Bishop
of Tetovo, Administrator of Serbian Diocese in the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Vicar to His Holiness Patriarch
Pavle of Serbia. His Holiness Patriarch Pavle performed the
consecration with twenty-one Serbian Bishops, forty-two priests,
five deacons and in the presence of a large number of faithful.
In 1994, the Holy Synod of the
Serbian Orthodox Church chose Jovan to be the Bishop of Western
America and on September 18 of the same year, he was enthroned
by His Holiness at the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint
Steven venerable monk Simon in Alhambra, California.Now he is Bishop in Serbia ... |
