His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Mr. On June 28, 2024, on Vidovdan, Porphyrije served the Holy Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Prince Lazar in the crypt of the Church of St. Sava on Vračar.
His Holiness the Patriarch was assisted by His Eminence Bishop of Remesia Mr. Stefan, the cornice of the narthex of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Moscow, with the clergy of the Belgrade-Karlov Archdiocese.
- For Christ, brothers and sisters, we decided His Gospel in the person of St. Sava many centuries ago, knowing that Christ was persecuted before us, knowing that they rejected Christ before us, knowing that His word is true, knowing that those who follow Him are loved - they would have loved us too. Therefore, we have consciously and once and for all decided to follow the way of Christ, because we know that in Him is the fullness, perfection, the meaning of existence of both this world and the future world, - said Patriarch Porphyrios, emphasizing:
- In St. Sava, brothers and sisters, we have chosen the Kingdom of God, which is not just some fiction and some idea, but a reality that is given to us now and here and which depends on our determination and our efforts to make this determination our practice, our concrete life, life in Christ. So we have chosen Christ consciously and freely, knowing that our fullness is in him, that his cross is the bearer of resurrection and victory, and that the victory does not is measured by the mathematics and parameters of this world. Brothers and sisters, the holy Prince Lazarus also knew this, who, like Saint Sava, lived Christ and knew that there can be no meal more important than faith, as our people say, i.e. that for a short time the realization and realization of any goal of this age, which we can symbolically represent with the words full stomach, cannot be the main and primary goal.
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The Church of St. Prince Lazarus, together with the patriarchal tomb, is located in the underground floor of the Svetosavsky Church, which was built in 2001-2002, in just six months. This underground building, which has primarily a religious purpose, is also the place where for many years meetings of the Holy Synod of Bishops have been held, as well as significant cultural events in the life of the capital. Behind the altar of the Church of St. Prince Lazar is the Crypt of the Patriarchs, the place where Serbian patriarchs will be buried in the future. The first head of the Serbian Orthodox Church buried in the crypt is Patriarch Irinej (1930-2020). There are four tombs behind the altar, and four more are located in the apse of the crypt. The crypt also contains a foundation stone, next to which was laid the statute of the beginning of the construction of the temple from 1939, as well as from 1985, when the temple was re-consecrated. The only part of the crypt that has been excavated and completed before World War II, is located at its extreme east, hence the area is called the Old Crypt.
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