Patriarch Porfirije opens the Memorial Room of Patriarch Pavle in Monastery Rakovica

Patriarch Porfirije: We follow the traces that Patriarch Pavle left us on the path that led our Church towards the living God, Christ our Savior, who is our faith and our hope and our love.

Serbian Patriarch Pavle of blessed repose with his deeds obliged Serbs to remember him gladly and continue his path of faith, truth, justice, charity and love. He said: Love is the highest virtue. Everything that a person shares with others decreases, except love. The more you give it, the more you have it. On May 20, 2021, with such love, the church and the gate of Rakovica Monastery were filled, where His Holiness Porfirije, Serbian Patriarch,  opened the Memorial Room dedicated to Patriarch Pavle.

Before the ceremonial opening of the Memorial Room, His Holiness Porfirije, Serbian Patriarch, in the prayerful presence of the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops, Their Graces Bishops Irinej of Backa, Jovan of Sumadija and David of Krusevac, paid tribute to Serbian patriarchs Dimitrije and Pavle who rest in the monastery courtyard, as well as to Patriarch Irinej. Among those who concelebrated, there were: protopresbyter-staurophors Djordje Trajkovic and deacon Radomir Vrucinic, while the choir of the Theological Seminary of Saint Sava sang responses wonderfully.

The opening ceremony of the Memorial Room of Patriarch Pavle began with an address by the Director of the Library of the Serbian Patriarchate, Dr. Zoran Nedeljkovic, who reminded that the administration of the Library of the Serbian Patriarchate was entrusted with the duty of forming the Memorial Room of Patriarch Pavle.

"In the period that is behind us, with the support of the Holy Synod of Bishops and with numerous associates, we managed to complete the entrusted task. Almost 500 items from the legacy of Patriarch Pavle are on display. I thank  Abbess Evgenija and her sisterhood of the Rakovica Monastery for their attention and help. I thank our respected heraldist Dragomir Acovic for his hard and professional work in forming the exhibition. I would like to thank the distinguished Serbian architect Mr. Stevan Micic for arranging the entire space of the Memorial Room. I also thank Mr. Momcilo Rancic, who made all the showcases and additionally engaged in numerous other jobs. I am very grateful to Mr. Mladen Kremenovic, the owner of the Ligrap foundry, for his valuable gift for the Memorial Room. I would like to thank the Director of the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Deacon Vladimir Radovanovic, and the employees of the Museum for their occasional help during the arrangement of the exhibition. Of course, I would like to thank the employees of the Library of the Serbian Patriarchate who have been engaged all the time in arranging the Patriarch's legacy, arranging the display cases and all other tasks. I express my great gratitude to the Production of the Diocese of Backa for their support in their work. Also, I thank Father Milos and the clergy of the Church of St. Elijah in Mirijevo for the valuable gift for the Memorial Room. I also thank the recently died Fr. Ignjat, who served in this holy family. He often visited us and helped our work in various ways. I thank all those who in any way helped the realization of this endeavor,” Dr. Nedeljkovic said and added:

"I want to emphasize that we made an effort to present and show everything that indicates and reminds of the legacy of Patriarch Pavle of blessed repose, so that his life, work and hierarchical dignity would be worthily presented to future visitors as an instructive example of a life filled with virtues.But there is something that could not fit in the display cases, that is why many come here to worship over his mound to find comfort and joy, and that is his faith, love, his hope in the Risen Christ and the Gospel of Christ, which he lived, breathed, spoke. Our poet Matija says that no one spoke so quietly, and that he was heard so far away, like our patriarch Pavle. And that is why I think that the more time passes from the day of his repose, the greater he will be among the people, and his words will be heard further and further and will testify to the only valuable life in Christ and His Gospel".

Opening the Memorial Room, His Holiness Porfirije, Serbian Patriarch,  spoke with inspiration:

"Your Graces, High Venerable Mother Abbess, honorable fathers, brothers and sisters!" The Apostle Paul says that we should respect our elders. Of course, not because he wanted to say that elders need others to obey them, but because he wanted to warn us and inform us that only when we have a sense of respect for our elders, when we have obedience to them, then we surely heard the word of God saying that the God is the Father and that by respecting His word alone we can grow in accordance with what our destiny is. That is how we have gathered here today to express our memory, respect, and even obedience in relation to  Patriarch Pavle of blesed repose, as a person, but also all of us as a community. We have gathered to, looking at the traces he left behind, establish or, better said, renew our personal relationship with him, and that is only possible in the Church, because in the Church there are no boundaries between this and that world. Only in the Church can we constantly renew our personal relationship and follow in the footsteps that he left us on the path he led our Church. These are the traces that lead to the living God, Christ our Savior, who was, as we have already heard, the faith, hope and love of the blessed Patriarch Paul, to the One who is also our faith and our hope and our love. And in that respect, this Memorial Room located in the monastery of Rakovica has only one meaning if our memory of the Patriarch Pavle of blessed repose is not only a memory of the past that is behind him and behind us, but above all a memory of the One Living God, One in the Trinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. With these thoughts, I invite that by entering the Memorial Room dedicated to Patriarch Paul, each of us enters his room, his being, and there he meets the One in the Trinity, God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. "

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The Memorial Room in the Rakovica Monastery is decorated with selected exhibits from the life of Patriarch Pavle  of blessed repose dedicated to God and family. Personal items, clothes and work accessories, tools, notes and reminders, handbooks and liturgical literature, his books and books about him, gifts, watches, a collection of Easter eggs and other gifts are on display.

The space is dedicated to the time of his patriarchal service and contains selected recognitions, awards and honors that he received during his life from his people, from the Serbian Church and other local Orthodox Churches, from Christian and other religious communities, statesmen, famous people, organizations and institutions. Icons, hierarchical insignia, hand and table crosses, liturgical vessels and clothes are exhibited in the glasscases eg. Special attention is drawn to the display case in which the personal belongings of  Patriarch Pavle of blessed repose are exhibited: a knitted vest, an improvised lamp, shoes and tools from the Patriarch's workshop, a typewriter with a magnifying glass, a portable stove with a pot, glasses in a holster, a suitcase, an iron and even his broom with a dustpan...

The ceremony was also attended by the Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of Bishops, protopresbyter-staurophor Savo Jovic; the Manager of the Information and Publishing Institution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Mr. Dusan Stokanovic; Deputy Dean of Belgrade-Posavina protopresbyter-staurophor Branko Mitrovic, Head of the Office of the Serbian Patriarch protodeacon Aleksandar Prascevic, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper of the Serbian Patriarchate "Orthodoxy" protodeacon Damjan Bozic, Professor Dr. Vojislav Milovanovic, the clergy and monastics of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci, representatives of the public and cultural life of the capital and pious faithful people.

Snezana Krupnikovic
Zorica Zec
photo: deacon Dragan Tanasijevic