Christmas Eve at Alexander Nevsky church

In the evening of the joyful feast day of the Nativity of the Lord, His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, celebrated the vesper service at the church of Alexander Nevsky. After the blessing and burning the badnjak (Yule log), Patriarch Irinej served the feast day's great vesper service and gave Christmas gifts to children. Belgrade's Mayor Dragan Djilas was present at the service.

Christmas Eve in Cathedral Church of Saint Sava on Vracar

Pious people of the Serbian capital gathered this evening in front of the Cathedral Church on Vracar, where His Grace Bishop Atanasije of Hvosno, Vicar of Serbian Patriarch, blessed and burned badnjaks (Yule logs). Across the Saint Sava's plateau the Christmas troparion could be heard: Thy nativity, O Christ our God...

Serbian Patriarch celebrates Divine Liturgy on Pasino Brdo

His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, celebrated today, on Christmas Eve which is also this year the Serbian Father's Day, the Divine Liturgy in the church of Holy Trinity on Pasino Brdo in Belgrade. 

Nativity Encyclical 2012

THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
TO HER SPIRITUAL CHILDREN AT CHRISTMAS 2012
+ I R I N E J

BY THE GRACE OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF PEC, METROPOLITAN OF BELGRADE KARLOVCI AND SERBIAN PATRIARCH, WITH ALL THE HIERARCHS OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH TO ALL THE CLERGY, MONASTRICS,AND ALL THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF OUR HOLY CHURCH: GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE FROM GOD THE FATHER, AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, WITH THE JOYOUS CHRISTMAS GREETING:

PEACE FROM GOD! CHRIST IS BORN!

"Rejoice O ye righteous, rejoice O heaven, dance O mountains for Christ is born…”
(Hymn from the Nativity of our Lord Matins, tone four)

The Nativity of our Lord brings to us joyous and wonderful news that the Son of God became Man, the God-Man Jesus Christ. With His Incarnation, the prophesy of Saint Isaiah the prophet has been fulfilled: “Lo, the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emanuel, which is translated: “God is with us”. (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14) From that day until the end of the age, God is with us and we belong to Him. The Son of God has descended to earth, and man has ascended to heaven. Everything has been united. Angels sing with men and men participate in the angelic life. Saint John Chrysostom called Christmas the mother of all feasts, and contemplating the Birth of God in awe as a wondrous mystery, he glorifies it by saying: “I look upon an astounding mystery. Shepherds’ voices I hear in my ears. Angels and archangels sing, seraphim glorify, they all participate in the Feast, looking upon God on earth, and upon man in heaven. They look upon God, Who is in heaven, as upon Him Who is the Cause of His own descent to earth. They look upon man, who is on earth, and see how through God’s love for mankind he dwells in heaven.” God without body puts on flesh; the Invisible becomes visible, He Who is unapproachable becomes approachable, the Timeless one receives a beginning, the Son of God becomes the Son of man. This manifestation of God in our world and our life is the beginning of our own entrance into God’s world. And so, the meaning of Christmas is in the reality that God came to people so that they may come closer to Him.

Constantine’s Jubilee

Towards the jubilee of one of the most important events in the history of civilization – 1700 years since the publishing of the Edict of Milan of Holy Emperor Constantine the Great - editorial staff of the Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church launched at the end of 2012 a new section on the official website of our Holy Church entitled Constantine’s Jubilee.

In forthcoming days, one of the aims of this column is to represent all significant events which have happened on the eve of this important anniversary in dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church in both Homeland and abroad.

As you can already see in this column Constantine’s jubilee, a series of conferences and scientific meetings have been held, many books and multimedia projects have been published, and many concerts and exhibitions already took place with the aim to bring closer to the public the personality of Constantine the Great.

Naturally, the Diocese of Niš with its seat in the birthplace of Emperor Constantine carries most of the activities with many accompanying projects.

Considering the significance and the impact of the Edict of Milan on the all-encompassing church, state and social life since the age of Constantine until our time, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Republic of Serbia, through the Organizing committee presided by His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, and Mr. Tomislav Nikolić, the President of the Republic of Serbia, participate in the celebration of 1700^th anniversary on the highest level.

Information for media – Christmas Encyclical

His Holiness Irinej will read Christmas Enclytical of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Friday,  January 4th, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade.

We call representatives of media to attend this event. Please send accreditations on info@spc.rs  no later than January 3rd, 2013 until 12 a.m. 

Information Service
of the Serbian Orthodox Church