Saint Elijah Slava Celebration in Warren

With the grace of our merciful God and with the Archpastoral blessing of His Grace Bishop Irinej, on Sunday, August 4th, our Church celebrated St. Elijah, our patron saint.

We were blessed to have with us His Grace Bishop Irinej, Very Rev. Protopresbyter Djordje Mileusnic, former priest of St. Elijah; Rev. Protodeacon Jovan Anicic; Rev. Deacon Mark Resanovich from St George in Canton OH, and Rev. Presbyter Vedran Grabic, our parish priest. All of our neighbors joined us in the celebration of our patron saint. Members of Saint George in Hermitage and both Holy Trinity parishes of Youngstown decided to close their Churches to be together.

God blessed us with a beautiful morning- rays of sunlight with a slight breeze- giving us a feeling of happiness and unity with God. The faithful people were visibly lighthearted, and our hosts very happy to see the Church full of people and children becoming one with God while partaking in the Divine Mysteries.

In very inspiring sermons His Grace made some remarkable points that will always stay in souls and hearts of people. His Grace thoroughly explained the patronal icon of St Elijah, ensuring the people how powerful their protector is. He explained the reason St. Elijah holds a bird the icon; the saint was in the dessert for over six years where he was fed daily by a bird who brought him bread. This represents that even when we are alone and have nothing, God will still be with us and help us if we continue to have strong faith as St. Elijah did.

After Divine Liturgy and the blessing of Kolac and Koljivo, our Circle of Serbian Sisters prepared an abundant festal lunch, enriched with various treats from sisters of neighboring parishes. This was a wonderful opportunity for people to get to know each other better, to share their concerns and experiences, and to ask questions about the future of our churches in this area. All of us agreed that we
should assemble around our Bishop, priests, and together preserve unity with God and our Holy Church.

This year's Kumovi were Mr. Nenad and Mrs. Borka Adamovic, faithful members of our parish, who are generous donors and benefactors not only to our church but to all those in need.

Source: easterndiocese.org