Monastery Slava Celebrated at the Meeting of the Lord Monastery in Escondido

Monastery Slava Celebrated at the Meeting of the Lord Monastery in Escondido The Meeting of the Lord Monastery in Escondido, near San Diego, celebrated its Monastery Slava on Saturday, February 15, 2020.

His Grace Bishop Maxim of the Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church celebrated the Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating with His Grace were Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Lazar Vasiljevic, Protopresbyter Rev. Milovan Katanic, and Deacons David Williams and Vladan Radovanovic.

The Slava kolach and wheat were blessed following the Prayer before the Ambon. Afterward, at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, His Grace addressed the faithful. “I wish you a joyous Slava of this holy monastery of the Meeting of the Lord here in Escondido, where we have come with warm hearts, filled with hope and love for the Lord but also His feast days.

One of them is – even by name – miraculous and meaningful which is the Meeting of the Lord. Historically this was a meeting, an encounter, in the temple when Christ was brought and was received by an elder of that time who awaited the coming of the Lord and fervently hoped that he would see salvation before he left this world, as he himself said when he referred to the Lord as salvation.

Then he uttered that marvelous prayer or his exclamation, Now let your servant go in peace according to Your word. Thus, he couldn’t leave until this desire of his was fulfilled to see the Savior. Similarly, dear brothers and sisters, a great desire and love of ours is to be with the Lord our Savior which, through His Body and Blood, is offered to us at every Divine Liturgy so that every Liturgy is its own feast of the Meeting of the Lord just as this feast of the Meeting of the Lord is, par excellence, exceptional in all things.

In this respect, I congratulate Fr. Milovan, the priest, I congratulate the founder of this monastery, Ratko, and all of you who came to participate in this liturgical celebration. May God bless all of you.”

The festal joy continued with an agape meal.

Source: Western American Diocese