The 100th anniversary of the church in Lapovo

The Holy hierarchal Liturgy was officiated by  Bishop Jovan of Sumadia on August 11, 2019 on  the 100th anniversary of the consecration of St. Paraskeva church in Lapovo, Serbia.

Among the priests who served with the Bishop were retired parish priests of Lapovo, archpriests-stavrophors Srboljub Markovic and Milenko Stikic, as well as a retired Belgrade priest, protoresbyter-stavrophor Milan Radovanovic, a native of Lapovo.

In addition to these priests, protodeacon Ivan Gasic and deacons Stevan Ilic and Nemanja Stojkovic also celebrated while performing the rite of consecrating the frescoes, painted by fresco-painter Dragan Milojevic from Batocina. The Oplenac Church Choir from Topola, conducted by Marija Rakonjac, responded.

The church of St. Paraskeva in Lapovo was built between 1910 and 1912, at the initiative of the then Metropolitan of Serbia Dimitrije, at the place where a wooden church had been built in 1827 during the reign of Prince Milos Obrenovic, who was also its donor. However, due to the Balkan wars and the First World War, the church was consecrated only seven years later by Metropolitan Dimitrije, on July 26, 1919, according to the old calendar, on a feast-day known among the faithful people as St. Petka of Ternovo.

After the Holy Liturgy, a solemn academy was performed with participation of academician Matija Beckovic, Folklore Group of Lapovo under direction of Dejan Petrovic, St. Paraskeva Church Choir conducted by Dejana Bankovic, writer Jovica Nikolic, as well as the ethno band “Pillars”. The Academy was conducted by Serbian language teacher Aleksandra Solevic. As part of the celebration, an exhibition of old church liturgical books and objects was organized as well as of artworks of local artists.