Cleveland, OH - The funeral for the late Protojerej-Stavrofor Nenad Resanovic took place Wednesday morning, March 9, 2005 at St. Sava Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio. Joining His Grace Bishop Mitrophan in prayer at the funeral were 17 priests and 2 deacons. There were other clergymen that attended but did not serve. Also, in attendance were the sisters from Monastery Marcha as well as the Monastery of the Holy Theotokos from New Carlisle, IN.

Following the service His Grace, the bishop, delivered the following eulogy:

“For we walk by faith not by sight”
(2. Cor. 5:7)

Dear members of the family,
Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers,
Dear brothers and sisters,

Those words of the holy Apostle Paul could fully apply to our dear Fr. Nenad. When I spoke to him a few months ago, I asked him: “How is your health, my dear Fr. Nenad?” He answered: “Don’t ask me, your Grace, how is my health, but rather how is my illness. I lost my health a long time ago. But, thank God, I can still walk.” And following the Divine Liturgy, during which he communed, he told me: “I beg of you, your Grace, pray for me that I don’t lose my sight. It would be most difficult for me if I couldn’t read.” And I noticed, as many of you did, that his physical sight began to slowly decline. On the other hand, his spiritual sight was becoming all the more clearer. But that was his faith.

Also, he always asked of his brother clergy to pray for him that he endure for a peaceful, quiet, sinless Christian ending to his life. Not only did he ask others to pray for him but he prayed as well. For what use is it to us that others pray for us if we ourselves to not pray. And the Lord granted him this peaceful and Christian ending to his life. He was not afraid of death, but, as St. John Chrysostom says, he was only afraid of sin. For death has its strength and power in sin (I Cor. 15:56) as one church hymn so beautifully states: “Before the Resurrection of Christ death was frightful for man, but after Christ’s Resurrection, man was frightful for death.”
Fr. Nenad was a man of steadfast faith. He was attacked by great physical and spiritual temptations. First, he lost his life companion, Emilija, and then two years ago he lost his son Stevan. I believe that God wanted to test his faith as He did with Abraham (Gen. 22:1). And when one fellow priest offered his sympathies saying, “Father I am sorry for your great loss.” He replied, “What loss? If my son is near Christ there is never a loss. If he is without Christ, and even if he was alive, it is a loss for me.” In all of his troubles and sufferings he was strengthen by the words of the holy Apostle Paul: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13). Therefore, he could say together with the Old Testament righteous man, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

He fought long with his illness and was never spiritually exhausted. He was aware that the temporary sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us (Rom. 8:18). His suffering was similar to that the righteous Job. He lived in the hope of Christ, that we when “our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.” (2 Cor. 5:1-3). Isn’t this similar to what the righteous Job says, “For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27).

All of his faith, hope and love he rested on the Resurrected Christ. Frequently I heard him teach others at Monastery Marcha or in this church, that the Resurrected Christ is the center of everything. In Him is the meaning of our lives (Rom. 5:18). The words of the apostle Paul, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (I Cor. 15:14) were constantly in his heart and in his soul. When Christ, or the Church, the Gospels or the Holy Canons were in question there was no compromise with him. For him Christ was the measure of all things. He considered all things harmful and minute compared to the great knowledge of Christ our God. His rule was: All things should be left behind that we might only gain Christ (Phil. 3:8). This was noticed by many during his active ministry in this parish.

I am not aware if our dear Fr. Nenad left many written things behind. But what is most important, his writings that remain are not written on paper or stone tablets but on the bodily tablets of our hearts (2 Cor. 3:3). Every Thursday at this holy Church he regularly held religious classes for adults, interpreting the words and lives and giving drink to the thirsty from the eternal waters and feeding the hungry with the heavenly bread. This is what remains eternally and is more important than if he had written volumes and volumes of philosophical works “according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). At every occasion he taught the Orthodox souls to watch for the infectious spirit of this world, syncretism and distorted Christianity.

Dear Father Nenad,

The hour has come for our separation from one another, but only temporarily. And I know what you would advise your son Nikola and the rest of your family and friends and acquaintances as well as your brother priests: “Do not be sorrowful like those who have no faith” (2 Thess. 4:13). Do not forget the words of Christ: “I am the Resurrection and the Life; whosoever believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (Jn. 11:25). You have now troubles and sufferings. But do not forget: “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7:17). And I am certain you would tell them, together with St. Cyprian: “When our dear ones leave this world, we should rejoice more than be sorrowful. Remembering this truth, the holy Apostle Paul, in his epistle writes: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).

Thank you for all that you did for the Serbian Orthodox Church and your suffering people. You suffered with them as well. You passed, together with them, through the fire and the water. But just as God brought you to your rest (Heb. 4:9-11), may He also bring all of us. Thank you for your work in the parishes in which you served. Above all, your preaching of the Word of God to your spiritual children at St. Sava in Cleveland in whose hearts you formed the image of Christ (Gal. 4:19). You continued to do this “in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). Already at this moment we begin to miss you. Do not forget us before the holy Throne of the Almighty (2 Pet. 1:15).

May your memory be eternal and may God have mercy on your soul!