In the Church of Saint Luke in Kotor, a holy liturgy was celebrated today on the occasion of the feast of Saint Andrew the First-Called Apostle.

Stavrophore Nemanja Krivokapić served in exile.

At the end of the liturgy, Fr. Nemanja served the annual commemoration of the Protoreus Stavrophore Lazar Milin, professor and dean of the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, who passed away today.

Archpriest-Stavrofor prof. Dr. Lazar Milin was born on December 20, 1914 in the village of Pavlovci in Srem (Serbia), in a rural family, as the eighth child of father Jakov and mother Anka. He finished elementary school in his hometown (1921-1925), and high school in Ruma (1925-1933). He graduated from the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade (1933-1937) in 1937 with an average grade of 9.34. Then he served six months of military service in Banja Luka, in the hospital company, in 1937.

As a graduate in theology from the University of Belgrade, he was employed as a catechist religion teacher at the Gymnasium in Šabac, where he worked from 1938 to 1945. He spent a short time as a religion teacher at the Gymnasium in Valjevo (1942).

He passed the state exam, professor's exam for religion teacher with excellent results (1941). He was ordained a deacon by Bishop Simeon (Stanković) of Šabac-Valjevo on March 3, 1940, he was promoted to the rank of protodeacon in 1944, he became a presbyter in 1951 (ordained by Bishop Longin of Mostar), archpriest in 1955 (ordained by Patriarch Vikentije), and then archpriest Stavrophorus (at the time of Patriarch German).

In 1951, he moved from Šabac to Belgrade and was appointed as an assistant for the subject of Apologetics with the history of religion at the Faculty of Theology. For a time he was acting secretary of the Faculty of Theology (1952-1953). Patriarch Vikentije ordained him to the rank of presbyter and appointed him as a priest in the Church of Ružica and the Chapel of Saint Petka in Belgrade, where he was the elder for fourteen years. He spent about fifty years (until 1997) as a clergyman and minister in the Church of Ružica and Sveta Petka, serving, preaching and holding religious education classes for both youth and adults. At the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade as early as 1947, he submitted his doctoral dissertation under the title Dogma on the Resurrection of the Dead — a dogmatic and apologetic study. The authorities in Šabac temporarily deprived him of his civil rights, as well as the right to vote, which was the reason for the delay in preparing and defending his doctoral dissertation. He completed his doctoral examination and thesis defense on December 2, 1952 with excellent success (10). In 1953, he was elected assistant professor for the subject of Apologetics with the history of religion. In the explanation of the committee (Professor Radivoj Josić) who recommended him to the Holy Synod of Bishops for confirmation, among other things, it is said: "In general, it can be claimed that Mr. Milin's doctoral dissertation is a serious contribution to Orthodox theological science in the field of Apologetics." At the Faculty of Theology, he became an associate (1958) and full-time professor (1973), and he was dean of the Faculty for several terms.

For his theological and scientific training, he stayed abroad three times: Strasbourg (1958), Bern (1962) and Paris (1967). He was fluent in German, French, Russian and Latin. He was one of the observers at the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, at the fourth session, as a representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He represented the Serbian Church as a delegate at the World Conference of the Lay Apostolate in Rome in October 1967. In July 1968, as a delegate of the Serbian Church, he attended the Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala, Sweden.

Apart from lecturing at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade, Professor Lazar Milin, by invitation, held a large number of lectures in our country and abroad, published a large number of professional studies and works, as well as popular articles in the field of apologetics and theology in general. As a lecturer, polemicist and writer, he was highly valued and respected, read and listened to until the end of his life. He knew church singing very well, he loved church services and

their blessings. He retired from the Faculty of Theology in 1978, but remained active and present in church life until his last breath. He had four children with his wife Olivera (who is a priest's daughter).

He became a grandfather twelve times, and a great-grandfather once (great-grandson Lazar). One of his sons is a priest and professor at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade (Archpriest Dr. Dragan Milin), and one daughter is the wife of a priest (Smiljka Krivokapić, wife of Archpriest-Stavrophore Momčilo Krivokapić).

He passed away in Belgrade on December 13, 2001 at the age of eighty-seven. After the funeral service (the Serbian patriarch Mr. Pavle officiated, along with several bishops, priests and deacons), he was buried on December 17 at the New Cemetery in Belgrade, and was dignified by numerous admirers, students and friends.

Text from the link below downloaded on 13.12.2021. on the day when the 20th anniversary of the death of archpriest-stavrophore Lazar Milin was passed.