Patriarch Porfirije with the homeless and sick children

2. May 2021 - 22:02

His Holiness Porfitije, Serbian Patriarch,  spent the happiest holiday, Easter, first with the homeless with whom he had lunch together in the church soup kitchen, and after that he distributed packages to sick children at the University Children's Clinic "Tirsova".

In the yard of the church kitchen of the Religious Charitable Guardianship,  the Patriarch was welcomed at the table by 20 users, most of them homeless. “God loves us. And God has shown infinite love for the whole human race today… There is no excuse for discouragement, no excuse for any kind of giving up life, we all have phases of ups and downs… And this day shows, not only have we not lost hope, but that we have full of enthusiasm and confidence that we can be people who are joyful. Let joy be what our goal is. Next time we meet let's sing Serbian folk songs, also we can sing foreign songs," the Patriarch told them.


The Patriarch talked to them about their lives, how they found themselves on the street, but also about how they can be helped to have a "room and bathroom".

After talking with people who are on the margins of society, the Patriarch went to the Children's Clinic "Tirsova".

"We saw that a person can come to a borderline situation, between life and death, even at that harmless age. The message on Easter to us humans is that love - not to be limited to ourselves, not to put ourselves as the only important value in the world, but it means the feeling that there are others and that we exist only according to our willingness to sacrifice for another, then we are Christ's and then we understand the mystery of Christ's Resurrection", Patriarch Porfirije told reporters after the tour.

As he said, the deepest secret is best seen in the hospital, that love means putting everything you have available for joy, for life, for the beauty of another.
 
"On the one hand, I was deeply affected during the meeting with children who suffer undeservedly from the most serious diseases, but on the other hand, I was fascinated by the love, sacrifice and readiness of all those who work in this hospital to make everything they know and have available," he said. 

"Here we are convinced that love makes sense, that the risen Christ was not resurrected in vain, that he showed that good and virtue are sacrifices for one's neighbor, something that leads to rebirth, to the path of resurrection. It is very important to look at ourselves in places like this, to look at others and how much we are ready to act together for the betterment of all of us ", who ended his address with a greeting: Christ is risen! Truly He is Risen!

The Patriarch was thanked by the director of the University Children's Clinic "Tirsova", Dr. Sinisa Ducic.

"On behalf of the staff of the patients and their parents, I would like to thank the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, for taking the time to come and visit the patients. He did us a great honor. You had the opportunity to see how the children reacted when the Patriarch appeared, how the parents reacted, nothing better could have happened to us ", said Dr. Ducic.

Source: Tanjug, photo: Deacon Dragan Tanasijevic

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