Serbian Orthodox Church

Midnight Christmas Liturgy in Saint Sava Cathedral in Belgrade

HIs Grace Bishop Stefan of Remesiana officiated the Midnight Holy Liturgy at the Saint Sava Cathedral in the Vracar district on 7 January 2020, on the feast day of the Nativity of the Lord - Christmas.

After the three-year break due to the works on the interior decoration of the Cathedral on Christmas, at midnight, the first Christmas Liturgy was celebrated. The brotherhood of the church concelebrated to the Bishop in the prayerful presence of pious faithful people. The Holy Liturgy was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Nikola Selakovic and the head of the Office for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities Vladimir Rogaovic, PhD.

Archpastoral Nativity Message of His Grace Bishop Irinej of Eastern America

BY THE GRACE OF GOD
BISHOP OF EASTERN AMERICA

Most beloved clergy and monastics, sons and daughters, faithful children

of the Eastern American Diocese of our Most Holy Serbian Orthodox Church:

GOD’S PEACE — CHRIST IS BORN!

And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold,
I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people;
for to you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord”…
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts
praising God and singing, “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men of good will!”
(Lk. 2:10-11, 13-14)

This year, as we celebrate the glorious and joy-filled Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, it seems that the entirety of humankind and, in verity, Earth itself is passing through a labyrinth of anxiety and fear of the unprecedented Coronavirus pandemic. Yet, the angelic hosts on this Christmas Eve with their sweet song to the new-born Divine Child, dispel every semblance of darkness and hopelessness, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will!” And the Holy Nicholai of Zhicha and Ochrid, a saint of Christian origin and God-wise Serbian bishop, as though himself singing with them, noted: “In a word, we who traverse the earth are not alone in our travels. God is with us and all the heavenly hosts! Emmanuel! God with us!” (Emmanuel, Belgrade, 2000).

Peace of God! Christ is Born!

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11).

Over two-thousand years ago, the Magi came from the East, led by a star, to find the Newborn King.  They were called from far-away lands to be among the first to find the Messiah, Who was humbly born in a cave with no conveniences.  In doing so, they fell down before Him with love and awe, fully understanding that the One they found was the true King of peace.

New abbess of Monastery of Saint Stephen at Lipovac

On the feast of Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, January 2, 2021, His Grace Bishop Arsenije of Nis celebrated the Holy Liturgy in the monastery of St. Stephen at Lipovac, Serbia.

Archimandrite Dionisijae (Pantelic), spiritual father of that sacred monastery; archpriest Miodrag Pavlovic, hieromonk Evstatije (Babic) and deacon Djordje Filipovic concelebrated to the Bishop.

Hierarchs visited places affected by the earthquake

Hierarchs Porfirije, Gerasim and Nikodim gave words of encouragement and consolation to the victims, and agreed with the priests on the distribution of mobile homes.

On January 2, 2021, Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb and Ljubljana and Bishops Gerasim of Gornji Karlovac and Nikodim of Dalmatia visited the sites devastated by the earthquake that hit Croatia. The bishops visited the parish house in Petrinja, where they were greeted by priest Sasa Umicevic, that suffered so much that it had to be demolished, as well as the place where a girl Laura Cvijic died, where they prayed for the rest of her soul, but also for the souls of other earthquake victims.

Bishop Jovan of Slavonia served beside the relics of Saint Basil of Ostrog

His Grace Bishop Jovan of Slavonia celebrated the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the church of The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple in Gornji Ostrog on 1 January 2021, on the feast day of Saint Boniface of Tarsus.

The Bishop was concelebrated by protopresbyter-staurophor Dragan Krusic, parish priest of Niksic, and a hierodeacon Roman, co-brother of Ostrog.