Saint Sava Celebration in Boston - Boston Elevated to a Cathedral Church

The Serbian community in Boston celebrated its Patronal Feast on Sunday, January 29, 2017. This year's celebration was particularly special as the parish welcomed in their midst for the first time their newly appointed bishop, His Grace Bishop Irinej. His Grace arrived on Saturday from Biddeford, ME where he celebrated St. Sava with the Portland Serbian Community.

The celebration in Boston started with Great Vespers on Saturday evening. Fr. Aleksandar served together with deacon Sinisa Duvnjak as the parish choir sang responses.

Bishop Irinej celebrated the Sunday Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with several clergy and over three hundred people in attendance. In addition to Fr. Aleksandar, other clergy included Archimandrite Fr. Maximos (Constas) from Holy Cross School of Theology, Fr. Patrick and Fr. Rumen from the Bulgarian Diocese, Fr. Ivan Marjanovic from Portland, and Deacon Sinisa Duvnjak from Belgrade. Later, Archdeacon Evlogios of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem joined in the festivities. The parish choir responded beautifully during the service.

After the Gospel reading, His Grace addressed the faithful with his sermon. His Grace wished all in attendance a blessed feast day of St.Sava, the protector of this beautiful church. "May this day be blessed and and may this holy gathering be blessed as a part of this Divine Liturgy. His message was how Zacchaeus climbed into a wild fig tree in order to overcome his physical inadequacies, but more importantly, he overcame his spiritual inadequacies in order to see Christ." His Grace, then, invoked the blessing of God on all present with the words: "May God bless all of you and all of us at this joyous gathering today and all the days until we meet again in His Heavenly Kingdom".

At the end of Liturgy His Grace blessed the Slava kolach and zito in honor of St. Sava. The hosts (Domacini) for this year were Dragan and Dragana Gajica, and Dusko and Vojka Kukolj with their families. Vladika called upon the people to volunteer for next year's Slava. Marija Ilic, David Davidovic and Jakov Djurkovic responded to the call. After the dismissal, His Grace Irinej called upon the children to test their knowledge regarding St. Sava. To the joy of all present, they passed.

Then, another surprise followed as the bishop instructed a seminarian, Srdjan Maksimovic, to read the bishop's proclamation aloud. At that moment, the St. Sava parishioners learned that a great honor was bestowed upon the Boston community and its church would be referred to as the St. Sava Cathedral moving forward. His Grace congratulated Fr. Aleksandar and all the parishioners. Fr Aleksandar expressed sincere appreciation for this honor that was being bestowed upon the Boston parish.

After receiving a blessing from Bishop Irinej, a wonderful meal prepared by the hosts was shared in the church hall, immediately followed by a
spectacular program prepared the children and youth of the St. Sava Boston parish. After the program, many stayed to personally meet the new bishop and talk to him. The St. Sava parish hall, although large, was packed to capacity with people. Indeed, it was a beautiful day dedicated to our beloved St. Sava!

Source: Eastern American Diocese