His Grace Bshop dr. Mitrofan visited Hamilton on his first canonical visit

On October 23, his grace bishop dr. Mitrofan visited Hamilton on his first canonical visit. St. Nicholas Cathedral on Nash Road along with St. Nicholas Church on Barton Street and the Church of St. George Niagara Falls awaited their new bishop.

The day’s celebration began appropriately with the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy at the Cathedral. His grace served alongside priests from each of the three churches: V. Rev. Milojko Dimitric, V.Rev. Vojislav Pavlovic, V. Rev. Djuro Samac, V. Rev. Dejan Obradovic along with the retired long-time Cathedral parish priests V. Rev. Stevo Stojisavljevic and V. Rev. Lazar Vukojev.

The liturgical choir consisted of members from all three parishes and sang beautifully for the overflowing church. Bishop Mitrofan’s sermon reminded the people in attendance about the importance of the liturgical community and also said “Today we celebrate the Holy Fathers of the 7th ecumenical council who defended the church from the iconoclast heretics and brought back the veneration of Holy Icons. We should also remember the Serbian Holy Fathers who laid down their lives for their faith. Most of us know the names of many famous athletes, musicians, and artists, but how many of us know the names of our Serbian Holy Fathers who defended our Orthodox faith with their lives?”

Following the Holy Liturgy the faithful met at the St. Nicholas church hall on Barton Street to enjoy a banquet prepared by the Serbian sisters circle of all three parishes.

The hall was at max capacity and the program started with a prayer and ended with a number of dances from the church folklore groups. The guests were greeted by V. Rev. Vojislav Pavlovic on behalf of all the clergy. The presidents of each church board, brother Rajko Djurdjevic, brother Miroslav Cucuz, sister Danica Mirovic and brother Dusan Kolundzic also gave a few words. Their message was the same stating how very thankful they were to have bishop Mitrofan as our new spiritual father and that they give their full and unreserved support. Finally bishop Mitrofan closed with a few words “Thank you my dear faithful for your kind hospitality. We must build unity between our hierarchs, clergy, and parishioners, because in that way we can exclaim that we are the children of our Saint Sava.

V. Rev. Milojko Dimitric