The holy hieromartyr Milan of Rmanj
Born in 1874, he finished seminary in Reljevo in 1899 and was ordained deacon on 5 September and priest on 7 September 1899. Fr Milan was parish priest in the villages of Palanciste near Prijedor and Hasani near Bosanska Krupa. Later, he served in Martin Brod in the Monastery of Rmanj in the valley of the Una river. He wrote for the Bosanska Vila journal and other journals of the time. Like most Orthodox clergy in Bosnia in 1914, he was interned in Arad, where he spent most of the time in Austro-Hungarian barrack buildings.
In July 1941 he was arrested by the Ustashi (Nazi Croats) and imprisoned in Kulen Vakuf, from where he was taken to Lucki Busevic. There he was atrociously tortured, murdered and his body dumped in a nearby pit.
At a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on 7 May 2003, Bishop Chrysostom suggested his name be inscribed among the holy hieromartyrs of the Church of God. He is commemorated on 17/30 June.
The holy hieromartyr Rodoljub (Rodolyub) of Kulen Vakuf
Born on 16 March 1907 in Rogatica, he studied at seminary in Sarajevo, graduating in 1930. He was ordained deacon on 15 March and priest on 16 March 1931. Fr Rodoljub and his family were killed in the gruesome slaughter of Serbs in Kulen Vakuf in 1941. Before the Ustashi killed him, they slaughtered his wife and children in front of him.
At a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on 7 May 2003, Bishop Chrysostom suggested his name be inscribed among the holy hieromartyrs of the Church of God. The holy hieromartyr Rodoljub of Kulen Vakuf is commemorated on 25 July/7 August.
The holy hieromartyr Vukosav of Kulen Vakuf
He was born in 1865 in the village of Suvaja near Bosanski Petrovac. He studied at seminary in Reljevo and was ordained priest on 29 June 1892.
He was arrested by the Ustashi in 1941, together with his two sons, daughter, daughter-in-law and two grand-daughters. His sons and daughters were killed in the village of Busevic u Lici on 29 July 1941 and their bodies dumped in a nearby pit.
Fr Vukosav, an old and blind man, was forced to listen to how his children were tortured and then slaughtered. The murderers even gave him a knife to kill his own daughter, but he refused. In the end, they set him free to suffer on his own. A priest’s daughter, who saw him, wrote the following in a letter: ‘When Kulen Vakuf was taken from the Ustashi, in prison we found only old Fr Vukosav Milankovic. He was virtually out of his mind with grief’.
At a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on 7 May 2003, Bishop Chrysostom suggested his name be inscribed among the holy hieromartyrs of the Church of God. The holy hieromartyr Vukosav is commemorated together with the holy hieromartyr Rodoljub of Kulen Vakuf on 25 July/7August.
The holy hieromartyr Damian of Grahovo
He was born on 19 February 1912 in Plavna near Knin and graduated from seminary in Cetinje in 1932. He was ordained deacon on 17 March and priest on 18 March 1934 in Sibenik and was appointed parish priest in Zegar and Bosansko Grahovo. By the end of May 1941 Italian troops had retreated from Bosansko Grahovo and the Ustashi had taken over. The Ustashi started by making arrests in Grahovo, especially of well-known Serbs. Fr Damian was one of them. After 20 days of imprisonment in Bosansko Grahovo, he was taken to Knin and Gospic where he was known as Prisoner No 577. He was taken from the prison camp to Jadovno where he was horribly tortured. After they had skinned him alive, the Ustashi killed him and dumped his body in a pit.
At a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on 7 May 2003, Bishop Chrysostom suggested his name be inscribed among the holy hieromartyrs of the Church of God. The memory of the holy hieromartyr Damian of Grahovo is celebrated on 18/31 May.
The holy hieromartyr Simo (Symo) of Glamoc
He was born on 9 March 1871 in Gornji Ribnik near Kljuc and graduated from seminary in Reljevo in 1897. He taught in Kljuc from 1 September1895 and in Donji Vakuf from 30 June 1896.On 23 February 1897 he was ordained priest in Smoljani, where he stayed until 23 March 1900. Later he went to Glamoc where he was parish priest until his martyrdom.
The Ustashi began their slaughter on St Elias day 1941 in Glamoc. In the massacre of Serbs, the hieromartyr Simo was cut to pieces in Glamoc town centre.
At a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on 7 May 2003, Bishop Chrysostom suggested his name be inscribed among the holy hieromartyrs of the Church of God. The holy hieromartyr Simo of Glamoc is commemorated on 21July/3 August.
The holy hieromartyr Mirko of Glamoc
Born on 14 April 1885 in Otisic near Sinj, he graduated from seminary in Zadar in 1908 and became parish priest in Drnis on 20 July 1909. Later he was apppointed parish priest in Metkovic, then in Tepljuh and Glamoc.
The Ustashi arrived in Glamoc from Livno on 30 July 1941 and arrested all the well-known Serbs. Among them was Fr Mirko and his son. The arrested Serbs were bound with wire and taken to Mt Koricna in trucks, but on the way to Livno they were killed. Their bodies were dumped in a deep pit on the road to Livno.
At a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on 7 May 2003, Bishop Chrysostom suggested their names be inscribed among the holy hieromartyrs of the Church of God. The holy hieromartyr Mirko of Glamoc and his martyred son are commemorated on 21 July/3August together with the holy hieromartyr Simo of Glamoc.
The holy hieromartyrs Milan (Banjac) and Milan (Golubovic)
Milan Banjac was born on 11 February 1886 in Drvar and was a priest’s son. He graduated from the seminary and the pedagogical school in Prizren. He became priest in 1910 in Banja Luka and was attached to his father’s parish in Drvar. For some time he was parish priest in Ratkovo and Velikom Cvijetnjicu, from where he was interned in Arad in 1914.
After the First World War, in 1918 he was appointed parish priest in Drvar, where he remained until the Second World War. Fr Milan Banjac was a true Orthodox priest and was given the Award of St Savva. On 14 June 1941 he was arrested in Drvar by the Ustashi, together with twenty-nine other well-known Serbs.
The whole group was taken to Bosanski Petrovac and imprisoned. Two days later, on 16 June they were taken to a cave near Risova Greda which is above the village of Risovac. Near the cave all except those who managed to escape were killed. Survivors testified that Fr Milan was horribly tortured. The Ustashi cut off his hands, ears and nose before they killed him. The Croat who had arrested Fr Milan was Major Snjaric from Zagreb, a well-known figure and his deputy was the evil Kapetanovic from Herzegovina. While torturing Fr Milan, he gave him the parts of his body that had been chopped off, saying: ‘Lick them, priest, and your dog’s blood!’ A young man called Bobo Kreco shouted: ‘Down with all Ustashi. Down with Ante Pavelic. Long live Freedom! At that moment rifle bullets killed him and Fr Milan also. In the same group there was also a Fr Milan (Golubovic) from Cadjavica, who was a teacher in Drvar.
At a meeting of the Synod of Bishops on 7 May 2003, Bishop Chrysostom suggested their names be inscribed among the holy hieromartyrs of the Church of God. They are commemorated on 26 May/8 June.