Monastery Slava in Richfield

With the blessing of His Grace Bishop Mitrophan of Eastern America Monastery Marcha, located between the Cleveland and Akron parishes in Northeast Ohio, celebrated their Monastery Slava, St. Archagel Gabriel, on Saturday, July 28, 2012.

Bishop Mitrophan officiated at the Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with the concelebration of local diocesan clergy: V. Rev. Archimandrite Leontije from the nearby St. Mark's Monastery, V. Rev. Djordje Mileusnic, V. Rev. Rodney Torbic and V. Rev. Zivojin Jakovljevic, the newly appointed Dean of the Cleveland Deanery. Also serving were Protodeacon Milan Medakovic and Hierodeacon Constantine from St. Tikhon's Monastery. Other clergy in attendance were V. Rev. Milovan Katanic.

In his homily the bishop spoke beautifully and lovingly of the church being our house. He evoked a story of a incident when a bishop consecrated a church in Serbia. And there was an older man there who came to the bishop and exclaimed, "Thank you, Your Grace, for building my house." The bishop replied that he didn't build it for him but for everyone. The man answered and said if you built it for everyone it means you built it for me as well. It's a place, our bishop continued, where we can come anytime and we don't have to worry whether there will be anyone there who will kick us out. But especially it's a place we can come to when we go through the most difficult moments in our life. His Grace called upon all those present and everyone in this diocese to treat this monastery as their home and to visit it.

An agape meal followed. 

Source: Eastern American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church