On November 3, 2024, the second day of Lent in the Diocese of Godspeed Timoc, His Holiness Patriarch of Serbia Mr. Porphyrios presided over the Holy Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Zajecar.
At the beginning of the Holy Liturgy, His Holiness the Patriarch performed the act of consecrating the frescoes of the cathedral, under the vaults of which the pious people of Zajecar and Timoca Krajina have gathered for 190 years, offering prayers to the Lord, and especially to the Most Holy Mother of God, the protector of the city, especially remembering Her boundless love and mercy through the miraculous manifestations of the appearance of the image of the Mother of God of Peć eight decades ago in the moments of great trials and sufferings during the war.
It will be recorded in the annals of the cathedral that today, during the celebration of the 190th anniversary of the founding of the Timocha diocese and the construction of its cathedral, at the suggestion of His Eminence Metropolitan of Timocha, Mr.. Hilarion, a pectoral cross was placed on the chest of Archpriest Igor Ivkovich, parish priest of the second Zaechar, which was awarded to him by His Holiness Patriarch Mr. Hilarion. Porfiry himself.
The fullness of the liturgical communion, in addition to the many faithful, old and young, who filled the church and its portico, was facilitated by the Servants of the Office, the eminent and reverend archbishops: Hilarion of Timocha, Pachomius of Vransk, Jovan of Vransk, and the Most Reverend Archbishop of Zajecar. Šumadija, Ignatije from Branicev, Theodosije from Raška-Prizren, Arsenije from Niš, Nikodim from Dalmatia, Jovan from Pakrac and Slavonia, Hesychije from Vale, Jerotej from Saba, Damascene from Mohac and Paisije from Dioklea. The choirs of the Cathedral Church and the Prizren Theological Seminary sang a hymn to God.
The people of Zajecar had an unusual opportunity and a great blessing to be taught by the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church about the Gospel pericope being read in pious words:
- And so today in the Gospel we heard, which is an excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount, the sermon in which the Lord addresses His disciples and apostles and all those who follow Him, the Lord presents the crowning feature and criterion of our faith. That which is love. For He Himself, who is love in His essence and in His nature, leaves us cross-shaped love as a measure and as a way of being, saying and calling us to love God with our whole being, thought, mind. , heart, body, with all that we are. At the same time, however, he calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves. In other words, these seemingly two commandments are a twofold commandment to love, because God by His very nature is love, and we, as His icons, are called not only to imitate His love, but also to participate in His love through communion with Him, and we are affirm this union and this love toward our neighbor.
- To love every neighbor, even an enemy, is not a romantic, psychological love - Patriarch Porphyrios said and emphasized: - Every person is a neighbor, even the one who is ostensibly our enemy. The fact that he is hostile to us, it is his problem and because of that and because of that he will give an answer to God, and we will give an answer to God for what we received as a gift, namely the opportunity to open up and open ourselves to another, to give ourselves to another. We will give an answer as to whether we have acted in accordance with God's command. Of course, we must know that a commandment is not an order, that God's commandment speaks from within us, that through God's commandments God reveals to us what our true nature is, what our healthy nature is when we are normal. That's why love your neighbor as yourself (Mk 12:31) is a commandment, but it reveals what is healthy and normal in our being. Love your enemies (Mt 5:44) is a commandment, but the one who manages to overcome his right, give up his right and give himself to another, even when the other has labeled himself an enemy, he fulfills love, fulfills his task and the purpose of his existence, the meaning of his existence.
At the end of the Holy Liturgy His Holiness the Patriarch presented high church awards To the benefactors of the cathedral in Zajecar. Mayor of Zaječar Mr. Boško Nikićić and Mrs. Angela Risantijević with the Order of St. Eugenia.
The historic visit of the Serbian Patriarch to Timocca and the town of Zaječar will be remembered by the solemn act of consecrating the foundation stone of the new Diocesan Center, which is another confirmation and testimony of the great spiritual uplift experienced by the Church of God in Timocca Krajina under the spiritual leadership of His Eminence Metropolitan. Hilarion.
At the beginning of the Holy Liturgy, His Holiness the Patriarch performed the act of consecrating the frescoes of the cathedral, under the vaults of which the pious people of Zajecar and Timoca Krajina have gathered for 190 years, offering prayers to the Lord, and especially to the Most Holy Mother of God, the protector of the city, especially remembering Her boundless love and mercy through the miraculous manifestations of the appearance of the image of the Mother of God of Peć eight decades ago in the moments of great trials and sufferings during the war.
It will be recorded in the annals of the cathedral that today, during the celebration of the 190th anniversary of the founding of the Timocha diocese and the construction of its cathedral, at the suggestion of His Eminence Metropolitan of Timocha, Mr.. Hilarion, a pectoral cross was placed on the chest of Archpriest Igor Ivkovich, parish priest of the second Zaechar, which was awarded to him by His Holiness Patriarch Mr. Hilarion. Porfiry himself.
The fullness of the liturgical communion, in addition to the many faithful, old and young, who filled the church and its portico, was facilitated by the Servants of the Office, the eminent and reverend archbishops: Hilarion of Timocha, Pachomius of Vransk, Jovan of Vransk, and the Most Reverend Archbishop of Zajecar. Šumadija, Ignatije from Branicev, Theodosije from Raška-Prizren, Arsenije from Niš, Nikodim from Dalmatia, Jovan from Pakrac and Slavonia, Hesychije from Vale, Jerotej from Saba, Damascene from Mohac and Paisije from Dioklea. The choirs of the Cathedral Church and the Prizren Theological Seminary sang a hymn to God.
The people of Zajecar had an unusual opportunity and a great blessing to be taught by the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church about the Gospel pericope being read in pious words:
- And so today in the Gospel we heard, which is an excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount, the sermon in which the Lord addresses His disciples and apostles and all those who follow Him, the Lord presents the crowning feature and criterion of our faith. That which is love. For He Himself, who is love in His essence and in His nature, leaves us cross-shaped love as a measure and as a way of being, saying and calling us to love God with our whole being, thought, mind. , heart, body, with all that we are. At the same time, however, he calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves. In other words, these seemingly two commandments are a twofold commandment to love, because God by His very nature is love, and we, as His icons, are called not only to imitate His love, but also to participate in His love through communion with Him, and we are affirm this union and this love toward our neighbor.
- To love every neighbor, even an enemy, is not a romantic, psychological love - Patriarch Porphyrios said and emphasized: - Every person is a neighbor, even the one who is ostensibly our enemy. The fact that he is hostile to us, it is his problem and because of that and because of that he will give an answer to God, and we will give an answer to God for what we received as a gift, namely the opportunity to open up and open ourselves to another, to give ourselves to another. We will give an answer as to whether we have acted in accordance with God's command. Of course, we must know that a commandment is not an order, that God's commandment speaks from within us, that through God's commandments God reveals to us what our true nature is, what our healthy nature is when we are normal. That's why love your neighbor as yourself (Mk 12:31) is a commandment, but it reveals what is healthy and normal in our being. Love your enemies (Mt 5:44) is a commandment, but the one who manages to overcome his right, give up his right and give himself to another, even when the other has labeled himself an enemy, he fulfills love, fulfills his task and the purpose of his existence, the meaning of his existence.
At the end of the Holy Liturgy His Holiness the Patriarch presented high church awards To the benefactors of the cathedral in Zajecar. Mayor of Zaječar Mr. Boško Nikićić and Mrs. Angela Risantijević with the Order of St. Eugenia.
The historic visit of the Serbian Patriarch to Timocca and the town of Zaječar will be remembered by the solemn act of consecrating the foundation stone of the new Diocesan Center, which is another confirmation and testimony of the great spiritual uplift experienced by the Church of God in Timocca Krajina under the spiritual leadership of His Eminence Metropolitan. Hilarion.
Share:
