It was just after dawn when Patriarch Arsenije trudged about the main
square in Pec’ towards the monastery. He had a lot on his mind, and had not
slept all night. "Maybe," he thought, "if I can sit alone in the church,
the storms inside of me will calm, and I will be able to rest for a few
hours in late morning."

The morning was a beautiful one, and the sunrise had been a burst of
fire and color, reminding the Patriarch of the wonder and power of his God.
Upon arriving at the great doors of the monastery, Arsenije happened to
look up towards the top of the building. He saw sitting on the highest
point of the roof a white dove flanked by two gray falcons. As quickly as
he had reached for the door to enter the building, the three birds flew off
towards the North. Opening the large door, passing through his living
quarters, and slipping into the church, Arsenije was confronted with a
unusual sense of darkness that was beyond the dark that he experienced with
his eyes, which were as of yet unadjusted to the dim light of the church.
This darkness was a strange sadness that worked in communion with the
unease that he had felt during the previous night. Then as his eyes
adjusted to the dull light inside the church, he noticed something very odd
and very disturbing. There were caterpillars everywhere.

Arsenije woke up with a start. It was light already, and it was time
to get moving. The whole caravan of people with their wagons crammed with
essential belongings would be ready to set out for another day of flight.
The Patriarch had grave misgivings about all of this. He felt as if he was
abandoning his people in a time of real need. "My God," he shouted, "what
shall become of the Church and the faith of our people when I leave here?"
Lavic’ and Vuk, the two hajduks (highwaymen) in charge of leading the
company, and keeping it organized, heard the Patriarch’s outburst, and at
once rushed to his side. "Your Holiness, it is not good to say such things
so loudly. Our people are already frightened and confused enough. They look
to you to guide them. You are their strength and their hope," Lavic’ told
the Patriarch quietly, while Vuk looked on with a thoughtful look in his
dark eyes. "We have to flee. There is no choice, for the Turk will show
give no measure of mercy if he catches us here," whispered Vuk. Within
minutes Arsenije gave a short blessing to the days journey, and the caravan
was on its way North to the lands across the Danube.

So far, 1990 had been a difficult year for Patriarch Petar. Some
unsettling things were being said by a number of powerful people, and the
Church was being put in a very awkward position by some prominent leaders
of the various nationalist movements. These problems weighted heavily on
this man of God. The Patriarch’s sleep was fitful and his dreams were full
of confusing images. In an attempt to quiet his inner disturbances, Petar
took a journey across the country to Pec’. He had arrived the previous
evening, and already he felt better, having slept peacefully all through
the night. He woke early in the morning, and decided to walk about the town
alone with only his thoughts to accompany him. The Patriarch walked down
the main street for a few blocks, and then went right on to a small side
street. It was there that he saw a remarkable sight. On a large lot,
containing only grass and a number of large rows of weathered stones, were
what Petar calculated to be nearly a hundred butterflies. Then in an
instant, he was reminded of another Patriarch’s difficulties and of a
strange dream 300 years old. Patriarch Petar smiled, and walked away
slowly.