“Hurry, stranger!  I feel a holy presence here!  We must find out what has happened!”

(As you approach the river, you see a young boy in strange clothing standing next to the glow.  The maiden suddenly stops in her tracks and glares as the child.)

“What are you doing here, boy!?  How dare you stand here and gloat over your people’s victory!?”

(You notice the young boy is Turkish.  Rather than recoil from the maiden’s harsh words, he serenely turns to look at her.)

“Soften your words, dear lady.  I am not here as a representative of my people.  I am here to see if we are to be punished by God’s wrath.”

“God’s wrath?  What do you mean?”

“The armies of my people captured your Prince Lazar in battle.  In accordance with the rules of war, he was executed.  No Serbians were there to witness the act, but my brothers did not know that I am the son of a Serbian woman – a slave held by my people.”

“After Lazar was beheaded, I begged the executioner to have pity on the Prince's body.  For even though he was an enemy, Lazar was a noble sovereign, and to leave his head in the field to be scavenged by the animals and trampled by horses was surely a sin in the eyes of God.  So the executioner allowed me to take the head in a sack, and I placed it here, in the river, to be protected.  Later, I noticed the glowing light, and feared that God’s anger had been roused.”

(Hearing the boy’s words, the maiden rushes into the river.  Reaching into the cool waters, the maiden pulls up a sack.  Opening the sack, she gently pulls out a severed head that emits a bright glow that hurts your eyes.  Unable to look directly at the light, you reluctantly turn away.)

“Stranger, you do not need to avert your gaze.  For the holy light will not do you any harm.”

(The maiden climbs out of the river, and reverently lays the head on a clean patch of grass.)

“You have done my people…..our people a great service this day, child.  While I hope that the wrath of God strikes the Turks dead, I pray that you are spared his anger, for your Serbian roots are strong.”

“Many thanks, sister.  Your words lighten my heart, but I pray that my peoples – both of them – bask in the glory of God.”

(As the two speak, you notice the head beginning to move slightly.  As it gains momentum, the head starts to move of its own accord across the grassy plain.  You gasp in shock, drawing the attention of the two former enemies.  The maiden sees the head and crosses herself, whispering a quiet prayer.)

“Hurry!  We must follow him!  Blessed Lazar is leading us somewhere!”

(The maiden sprints after the head.  You and the boy follow, surprised by her speed.  As the three of you run after the head, you come to an area that was clearly an encampment of some kind.  Next to a tree stump lies a body dressed in regal armor.  You immediately notice that the body has been decapitated.)

“Look, stranger!  His body!  The body of our glorious Prince Lazar!  The Turks have left it here, careless fools that they are!”

(The three of you watch in stunned silence as the head stops at the body, and with a soft glow, the head reattaches itself to the body, leaving Lazar’s corpse whole and undamaged.  The maiden begins to weep and sinks to her knees.)

“Truly this is a miracle.  God be praised, for on this day our blessed saint has been returned to us.  Remember this well, stranger, for today you have witnessed a gift from God and the salvation of my people.”

(Suddenly, a group of priests who had been praying over the dead approaches.  The maiden tells them of the events you have witnessed.  Kneeling in prayer, they decide to bury the Prince in the small church he built and attended in lovely Ravanitsa.)

“Well, stranger.  This is a glorious ending to a truly wretched day.  And yet, it is still not quite at an end.  For you see, I still have not found what I seek.  If you will allow, I will tell you my story, and perhaps you can help.  If, that is, it please you.”

Listen to the maiden's story

Ravanica Monastery where Lazar is allegedly buried
Weblink:  Kosovo.net

Author’s note:  This story comes from the epic poem The Miracle of Lazar’s Head.  I have taken quite a few liberties.  The story of the little boy is in the poem, but the time that the Prince’s head lies in the river s actually forty years!  It is discovered by a group of youths who stopped by the river to dine.  The conversation of where to bury the Prince is particularly moving, as they debate which glorious church to bury him in before settling on the modest church that he built himself.

Lazar knew his fate would be to die.  The poems tell us Lazar is visited by an angel the night before the battle, and when asked if he would be willing to lose his kingdom to the Turks (as opposed to keeping it and swearing allegiance) he replied that he might lose his earthly kingdom, but he would gain a heavenly one to replace it.

The Serbian Orthodox Church canonized Saint Lazar, and several churches and missions throughout the world are named after him.  There is a body kept in the monastery in Ravanica that is alleged to be that of Lazar, and miraculous cures have occurred there that have been attributed to him.

Bibliography: