Award Trip for Talented High School Students to Greece and Hilandar
Students from the Zemun, Mathematical, and Smederevo Gymnasiums stayed in Greece from September 23 to 25, 2025, on a pilgrimage gifted by the Hilandar Monastery. The pilgrimage was organized as part of the ‘Hilandar Lighthouse’ project, conceived as a spiritual and creative framework for encounters between Hilandar and youth.
This year, thirty-six students participated—authors of award-winning essays from the literary competition on topics such as: ‘Saint Sava as an Athonite monk and founder of Hilandar. Did he succeed in his mission? Does his legacy live on today?’ and ‘What do I expect from Hilandar?’
Eighteen boys visited Mount Athos and the Hilandar Monastery for the first time. While touring the monastery and its surroundings, they learned about Hilandar’s life, history, heritage, and centuries-old mission.
They attended Athonite services, which left a deep impression. Nearly all students confessed and received Holy Communion—some of them for the first time in their lives—making the journey especially meaningful. They also had the opportunity to share a meal with Hilandar’s monks and to experience the monastic dietary culture of Athos.
The young pilgrims’ impressions were enriched by conversations with the Hilandar brethren, especially time spent with the Abbot, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Methodius, and Father Teodosije.
While the boys were at the Hilandar Monastery, the girls toured the surroundings of Mount Athos. Before departing from Ierissos, they attended a film screening about Mount Athos to deepen their understanding of the history, tradition, and spiritual richness of the monastic republic.
As part of the trip, the girls visited the women’s monastery of Saint Lydia in Asprovalta, where they received warm hospitality. A conversation in Serbian with the sisterhood delighted them, and the nuns’ love, sincerity, and openness will remain a fond memory. The monastery of Saint Lydia is known for nurturing relationships between the Serbian and Greek peoples. As a gesture of friendship, the nuns surprised their guests by singing the song ‘Tear of Kosovo.’
The farewell was emotional, with hopes of future reunions.
The girls also had the rare opportunity to sail along the southwestern coast of Mount Athos, viewing the monasteries from the sea. To deepen the pilgrimage experience, monks from the Athonite Monastery of Gregoriou brought relics of the saints during this sailing: Saint Photine, Saint Anastasia of Rome, Saint Nectarios, Saint Dionysios, and Saint Silouan of Athos.
Just before returning to Serbia, both groups reunited in Ouranoupoli and visited Hilandar’s metochion Kakovo, where they met with Abbot Methodius.
The Abbot of the Hilandar Monastery came with the intention of personally greeting the female students and their teachers, and speaking with them about the impressions they had gathered during the trip. On that occasion, the Abbot answered numerous questions—both on topics related to monastic life and on general Christian themes. At the farewell, all students and their companions received appropriate gifts from the Hilandar Monastery as a special blessing.
The students were accompanied by professors: Vladan Igić (Zemun Gymnasium), Dragica Ivković and Sava Cunjak (Mathematical Grammar School), and Marijana Nikolić (Smederevo Gymnasium). Representing the organizers were Sara Milanović and Marko Perić, while Dragan Jovanović guided the girls’ group.
This award trip has been organized annually since 2020 by the Endowment of the Holy Monastery of Hilandar, as part of the ‘Hilandar Lighthouse’ project.
