Ceremony in Honor of Saint Sava at Zemun Gymnasium
On the Feast of the Transfer of the Relics of Saint Sava from Bulgaria to Serbia, on May 19, 2026, in the evening hours, a ceremony was held under the vaults of Zemun Gymnasium, marking the 850th anniversary of the birth and the 835th anniversary of the departure of Prince Rastko Nemanjić to Mount Athos.
The event was organized as part of the ‘Hilandar Lighthouse’ initiative, which has been actively supporting the upbringing and education of students at Zemun Gymnasium for 5 years. Zemun Gymnasium is the first educational institution in Serbia to have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Holy Monastery of Hilandar.
On this occasion, with the blessing of the Very Reverend Archimandrite Methodius, abbot of the Holy Imperial Serbian Lavra of Hilandar on Mount Athos, the ceremony was attended by the monk Jelisej, the youngest member of the Hilandar brethren.
Alongside the host school’s professors, parents, and students, the guests of Zemun Gymnasium also included principals, professors, teachers, and students from all schools participating in the ‘Hilandar Lighthouse’ initiative: the Mathematical Grammar School, Smederevo Gymnasium, the ‘Nikola Tesla’ Primary School in Rakovica, and the School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy. Students from these schools together prepared and participated in the event’s program.
The program started with the Hymn to Saint Sava, performed with instrumental accompaniment in honor of the founder of Hilandar, spiritual father and patron—Saint Sava—by both older and younger students from all participating schools. Following the hymn, there was a short dramatic performance by students of the Zemun, Mathematical, and Smederevo Gymnasiums about their encounter with the ‘Hilandar Lighthouse’, as well as a report from the pilgrimage that the Holy Monastery of Hilandar grants them every year.
On behalf of the school, Professor of Serbian Language and Literature Boško Milosavljević addressed the audience with inspired words of welcome. His opening remarks announced a panel discussion—a conversation with the monk Jelisej titled: ‘Sava Is My Name—From Escape to the Lighthouse’.
Just before the start of the discussion, on behalf of Abbot Methodius and the monastic brethren of Hilandar, the monk Jelisej presented awards to students of the ‘Nikola Tesla’ Primary School in Rakovica, who were prize-winning participants in a literary, art, and multimedia competition about Hilandar. Fifteen awarded students will have the opportunity this summer to spend a week at ‘Hilandar Village’ in Sijarinska Banja.
As part of the program, a performance of verses from the poem ‘Saint Sava’ by Vojislav Ilić was also shown, interpreted by dramatic artist Ivan Bosiljčić at the site of Saint Sava’s monastic tonsure on Mount Athos. The ceremony concluded in the same spirit, with recitations of the poems ‘My Hilandar’ and ‘Hilandar Lighthouse’, written by students of the ‘Nikola Tesla’ Primary School in Rakovica, as well as a choral and instrumental performance of the final stanza of the poem ‘Saint Sava’.
Photo by: Dejan Todorović
