Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
January 13, 2005

BURIAL OF MORTAL REMAINS OF FATHER JUSTIN TASIC
HRH CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER AND PRINCESS KATHERINE TO VISIT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
RUSSIAN PATRIARCH ALEXY II AND METROPOLITAN KIRILL OF SMOLENSK AND KALININGRAD EXTEND GREETINGS TO NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF PALESTINIAN ADMINISTRATION

BURIAL OF MORTAL REMAINS OF FATHER JUSTIN TASIC

Archimandrite Justin (Tasic), the elder of Savina Monastery, became reposed in the Lord on January 11, 2005 at 11:30 a.m. in Vaso Cukovic Hospital in Risan. The mortal remains of the abbot of Savina Monastery were received by the priest-monks of this monastery, members of the Boka Kotorska Hierarchal Administration and the faithful. All who knew Father Justin say that he was one of the great spiritual leaders of our time, articulate, acute and wise, a man who achieved spiritual unity with the people of this region. Residents of Boka Kotorska for their part reciprocated his spiritual trust through prayer and religious service.

It is thanks primarily to their trust in Father Justin that the people returned to Savina Monastery in great number, and religious services in the church of St. Sava took place with a large number of faithful. Father Justin was the spiritual pastor of many residents of Herceg Novi, welcoming them, advising them, teaching them, administering confession and blessing them with unselfish faith in life and humanity. He drew his great spiritual strength from sources of popular wisdom deeply rooted in his origin and in an essential knowledge of our people. To the very last moments of his life on this earth, as Father Jovan Radosavljevic said for Radio Svetigora, Father Justin would respond to all enquiries regarding his state of health with “I’m well, how else would I be?” remaining until the very end a firm adherent of the faith in life.

Father Justin was born on February 5, 1936 in the village of Macute near Visegrad. He completed the Seminary in Prizren in 1971. He was tonsured and ordained a hierodeacon in spring of 1963. He was elevated to the office of hieromonk on St. Thomas Sunday 1964. He was for many years the elder of Visoki Decani Monastery. He was made an archimandrite in May 1992. After briefly administering Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery, since September 2, 1992 with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral he became the elder of Savina Monastery.

Before becoming an experienced and wise archimandrite, Father Justin of Savina spent some thirty years maturing and learning as a monk in always restless Kosovo and Metohija. According to Protosingel Hadzi Nikodim Djurakov, the author of the monograph “Savina Monastery – Past and Future”, he was discovered there by our renowned psychiatrist, professor Vladeta Jerotic, who dedicated these words of praise to him: “Born in 1936 in Dobrun near Visegrad, a monk since he was a child, sprouting like shrub harmonic in its physical composition, welcoming and bidding farewell to guests at the centuries old gats of Decani and Savina, Father Justin always seemed to me an unswaying guardian of everything in Serbian Orthodoxy and the tradition of St. Sava that has distinguished it from the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodius to the present day.”

A Liturgy for the Deceased was served today in Savina Monastery at 8:00 a.m., followed by the burial of the mortal remains of Father Justin.
Z.K./S.K.

Source: Svetigora Press

HRH CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER AND PRINCESS KATHERINE
TO VISIT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II and Princess Katherine will visit Kosovo and Metohija on January 14, 2005, the Orthodox New Year, and on that occasion will deliver humanitarian aid to the most endangered on the territory of the south Serbian province. The visit will take place according to the following schedule:

8:45 a.m. – Visit to Gracanica Monastery, where Their Royal Highnesses will attend Holy Liturgy, to be followed by delivery of humanitarian aid in the form of food, clothing and a Zastava 101 ambulance vehicle to the Health Center;

11:45 a.m. – Visit to the church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in Orahovac, where Their Royal Highnesses will deliver humanitarian aid;

12:30 p.m. – Visit to Velika Hoca and the church of St. Stefan, followed by the delivery of humanitarian aid;

2:30 p.m. – Visit to Kosovska Mitrovica, where Their Royal Highnesses will deliver humanitarian aid in the form of food, clothing and a Zastava 101 ambulance vehicle to the hospital, followed by a meeting with representatives of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija;

4:20 p.m. – Visit to Banjska Monastery, where Their Royal Highnesses will deliver humanitarian aid.

RUSSIAN PATRIARCH ALEXY II AND METROPOLITAN KIRILL OF SMOLENSK AND KALININGRAD EXTEND GREETINGS TO NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF PALESTINIAN ADMINISTRATION

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All-Russia extended official greetings on January 12, 2005 to the newly elected president of the Palestinian national administration, Mr. Mahmud Abbas. In his greeting His Holiness stated that he sincerely welcomes the outcome of the election and that he believes this choice will open better prospects for a peaceful solution in the Near East.

His Eminence Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who is the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, also greeted the newly elected head of the Palestinian administration and expressed wishes for his success in resolving the many strategic tasks in the Near East. “In the Holy Land all believers want peace, and your presidency has the task of resolving all conflicts. This will help to continue and develop good relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Palestinian administration.”

Source: www.mospat.ru

[Serbian Translation Services]