The feast of Saint Sava was celebrated in Hilandar

In the Holy Monastery of Hilandar, the founder’s glory, the feast of Saint Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, was solemnly celebrated.

The day before the holiday, numerous guests arrived at the monastery, among them monks from other monasteries of Mount Athos and dioceses of the Serbian Church.

The main guest was the abbot of the Grigoriat monastery, the Most Reverend Archimandrite Christofor, who presided over the holiday service, the all-night vigil, and the Holy Liturgy.

The beauty of the service was contributed by the singers from the Grigoriat Monastery who sang in the right choir, as well as the Hilandar monks and singers from the Saint Simeon Mirotočivi who sang in the left choir.

The Kititor celebrations of the Grigoriat and Hilandar monasteries have recently been jointly celebrated. That practice was established by the blessed abbot Georgije (Kapsanis). The abbot of Hilandar visits this Athonian shrine on the feast day of Venerable Grigorije Gornjački, the Grigoriat founder. After that, the Hilandar brotherhood, in order to establish this spiritual connection, invited Abbot Grigoriat to its founding celebration. In the previous two years, this practice was interrupted due to the pandemic.

After the Holy Liturgy, a celebratory meal was held in the monastery dining room.

In a sermon at the table, Abbot Metodije expressed his spiritual joy because this practice continued. He also greeted the monks who came from other families of Mount Athos, as well as all the devotees. He also said that this year’s feast of St. Sava, the founder of Hilandar, is the beginning of the year-long celebration of the “little jubilee”, 825 years since the founding of Hilandar. In the end, he asked Abbot Hristofor that he and the monks of the Grigoriat monastery offer special prayers these days for the salvation of Serbian Kosovo and Metohija because the pressures of the great world powers have increased for Serbia to give up this most important territory, where, in addition to the Patriarchate of Peć, there are many other shrines. He asked the other monks of Holy Mount Athos for this.

Abbot Hristofor also thanked God and Saint Sava, that the monks of both families once again celebrated his holiday together. He said that the monks in Grigoriat will pray for Kosovo and Metohija, but that in addition to the prayers, it is necessary that we all make an effort to correct our lives, fulfilling God’s commandments and living according to God’s will, so that our prayers will be answered.