The usual explanation of these lines is a reference to a moon's eclipse. That correponds to the meaning of this archaic Serbian expression, too.

Milutin Radošević, the meteorology lecturer of the Belgrade university wrote an article in 1938, concluding that they in all probability refer to an occurrence of the Bishop's Ring, a bright kind of halo that could have been 'capturing' or 'catching' the Moon, from 12. to 22. of February, 1784. The Bishop's Ring is caused by aerosol particles in the stratosphere, following a volcanic eruption or a strong cosmic rays influx. Read more here.