Djamila
Bosnjakinja
I'm always inspired by people's devotion, whatever the object of that devotion may be. In Bosnia, there are few samples of Christian devotion as powerful or as symbolic as Kraljeva Sutjeska.
In medieval Bosnia, the dominant faith was the Bosnian Church - a heretical form of Roman Catholicism. Members of this Church faced constant persecution from Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, thus when the Islamic Ottoman Empire reached this region - a vast majority of Bosniaks converted to Islam.
But not all.
Many were too devoted to the idea of Christianity that they opted instead to convert to Roman Catholicism. Some fled to Croatia, others remained in Bosnia. The first Bosniak to do this was a woman who is remembered even today. She is Queen Katarina Kotromanic of Bosnia.
A heretic, she loved her country and her people - and Jesus Christ - so much that when Bosnia fell to the Ottoman Empire she converted to Roman Catholicism and exiled herself to Italy, rather than remain in the country that had - for the most part - foresaken her.
Her journals reveal the tremendous sadness she felt at being the last queen of what she thought was the most blessed country on earth, and her tremendous sense of betrayl that, even in her own lifetime, the Bosnian Church had collapsed and even she was forced to find a new spiritual path. She died very shortly after arriving in Rome for her exile, most believe of a broken heart.
She handed over the royal castles of Bosnia to Franciscan Monks and even signed a document handing over the entire country of Bosnia to the Roman Catholic Pope, should it ever be liberated.
Her strength and determination were legendary, and Ottoman records of the time reveal Muslim soldiers actually believed there was a supernatural force protecting the castle where she made her last stand against their invasion.
For her efforts, she was beatified by the Pope and her feast day is October 25.
You would think October 25 would come and pass in largely Islamic central Bosnia unnoticed, but this is simply not the case. Even Muslims celebrate "Saint Katarina"'s (She's just beatified, not an actual Saint, but don't tell people in Bosnia that! lol) feast day, but Christians take it to an entirely different level.
In medieval Bosnia, the dominant faith was the Bosnian Church - a heretical form of Roman Catholicism. Members of this Church faced constant persecution from Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, thus when the Islamic Ottoman Empire reached this region - a vast majority of Bosniaks converted to Islam.
But not all.
Many were too devoted to the idea of Christianity that they opted instead to convert to Roman Catholicism. Some fled to Croatia, others remained in Bosnia. The first Bosniak to do this was a woman who is remembered even today. She is Queen Katarina Kotromanic of Bosnia.
A heretic, she loved her country and her people - and Jesus Christ - so much that when Bosnia fell to the Ottoman Empire she converted to Roman Catholicism and exiled herself to Italy, rather than remain in the country that had - for the most part - foresaken her.
Her journals reveal the tremendous sadness she felt at being the last queen of what she thought was the most blessed country on earth, and her tremendous sense of betrayl that, even in her own lifetime, the Bosnian Church had collapsed and even she was forced to find a new spiritual path. She died very shortly after arriving in Rome for her exile, most believe of a broken heart.
She handed over the royal castles of Bosnia to Franciscan Monks and even signed a document handing over the entire country of Bosnia to the Roman Catholic Pope, should it ever be liberated.
Her strength and determination were legendary, and Ottoman records of the time reveal Muslim soldiers actually believed there was a supernatural force protecting the castle where she made her last stand against their invasion.
For her efforts, she was beatified by the Pope and her feast day is October 25.
You would think October 25 would come and pass in largely Islamic central Bosnia unnoticed, but this is simply not the case. Even Muslims celebrate "Saint Katarina"'s (She's just beatified, not an actual Saint, but don't tell people in Bosnia that! lol) feast day, but Christians take it to an entirely different level.
This photograph may not look like much at first, but it symbolizes something far greater.
The writing you see in the background is written in Bosancica, an ancient alphabet unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the alphabet Saint Katarina wrote in. This particular sign reads "Kraljeva Sutjeska, Our Place". They have revived her alphabet in a modern era where latin letters, as in those English is written with, are the ones used to write Bosnian everywhere else.
The women in this photograph are wearing traditional Roman Catholic folk costumes from central Bosnia - with one very blatant difference. Their veils are not white, as they are in every other region of Bosnia. Their veils are black, a symbol of mourning for Saint Katarina that has been preserved for these many centuries.
Every October 25 they hold a great feast and celebration in memory of the Queen and pledge to continue living, in however small numbers, as Christians in her home - Kraljeva Sutjeska. It's a promise that has never been broken, and that you simply have to admire - whatever your religious background.
The writing you see in the background is written in Bosancica, an ancient alphabet unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the alphabet Saint Katarina wrote in. This particular sign reads "Kraljeva Sutjeska, Our Place". They have revived her alphabet in a modern era where latin letters, as in those English is written with, are the ones used to write Bosnian everywhere else.
The women in this photograph are wearing traditional Roman Catholic folk costumes from central Bosnia - with one very blatant difference. Their veils are not white, as they are in every other region of Bosnia. Their veils are black, a symbol of mourning for Saint Katarina that has been preserved for these many centuries.
Every October 25 they hold a great feast and celebration in memory of the Queen and pledge to continue living, in however small numbers, as Christians in her home - Kraljeva Sutjeska. It's a promise that has never been broken, and that you simply have to admire - whatever your religious background.
