SREMSKI KARLOVCI: 17 June, 2024
On the 7th Sunday of Pascha, the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia celebrates Divine Liturgy at St Nicholas Cathedral in Sremski Karlovci

On Saturday, June 15, 2024, members of the Synodal delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America and New York, prayed at Divine Liturgy in the home church of the Patriarchal Palace in Sremski Karlovci, Serbia, where His Beatitude Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev and Galicia, the first Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, loved to pray.

The service was led by His Grace Bishop Nektarije of London, Britain and Ireland. At the end of the service, the members of the delegation proceeded to the chambers of Metropolitan Anthony of blessed memory and lifted up a prayer for the departed, after which Metropolitan Nicholas greeted His Grace Bishop Vasilije of Srem and presented him with a jubilee cross and panagia, issued for the 100th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the 725th anniversary of the appearance of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God.

Then the members of the delegation visited Novi Sad and the monasteries of the Diocese of Backa: Kac and Kovilj. Here they were warmly received by the renowned Bishop Irinej of Backa, with his brethren and sisters. At the end of the service at Kovilj Monastery, His Eminence presented Bishop Irenej with a jubilee cross and panagia and several books published by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia for its 100th anniversary.

The following morning, the 7th Sunday of Pascha, Metropolitan Nicholas officiated at Divine Liturgy at St Nicholas Cathedral, co-served by His Eminence Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany; Bishop Vasilije; His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada; His Eminence Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America; Bishop Nektarije, members of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and local clergy.

Upon completion of Divine Liturgy, Bishop Vasilije delivered a few warm words about the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God, to which a multitude of parishioners venerated that day, and about the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and its rich history, after which he bestowed upon Metropolitan Nicholas the Order of St Arsenijes, whose relics rest in the cathedral. His Eminence then delivered the following words of greeting:

Your Grace, Dear Vladyka!

First of all, on behalf of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, my brethren, and from the depths of my heart, I express to you, dear Vladyka Vasilije, my heartfelt gratitude for your invitation and joint prayer to the One God and our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have shared here, mysteriously united with Him. By our joint celebration of the Eucharist, we have testified that we are one body, one spirit, one Church, and that with us and in us is one Christ, our God (1 Corinthians 12:12, 20; Ephesians 4:4).

Now, when the entire Orthodox world continues to celebrate the world-saving event – the Ascension of the Lord, when both our human nature and our human flesh have entered into the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we thank God that we have the happiness to pray here in Sremski Karlovci! We rejoice that the presence of the faithful venerating the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God "of the Sign" in these days facilitates our prayerful boldness, and we firmly hope that the humble, hardworking and noble Serbian people, bound to us by heartfelt ties, through the prayers of the Most-Blessed Virgin Mary, will be worthy of God's blessing and His all-active grace.

May our prayer burn during these days of the visit in Serbia of the miraculous icon, before which St Seraphim of Sarov was healed as a youth – may the Mother of God show the path of salvation and the development of his native land, may She give protection to the faith and the Church and to the entire land of Serbia, and may She envelop the heart of the people of Kosovo and Metohija.

The spiritual ties between the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches Outside of Russia are unbreakable. When the Russian refugees – archpastors, pastors, monastics and laity, headed by Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), respected throughout the Orthodox world, found themselves deprived of their homeland, it was the Serbian Orthodox Church that grasped their zealous desire not to join the existing Local Churches, but to preserve their prayerful ties with the persecuted Church in Russia and her heritage abroad.

The Serbian people, having shown our predecessors true fraternal protection and warm hospitality, gave them the opportunity to bear loud witness to the sufferings of the Church of the Fatherland, to her many martyrs and confessors. In the embrace of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Russian émigrés, comforted by love and care, felt themselves at home, and as a result of this incredible mercy, we now have common fathers, mentors and heavenly patrons.

I believe that they feel our love and gratitude for their spiritual feats and rejoice in our current prayerful and brotherly communion. Our reverent veneration for them and the common good that they brought are the best monument to our predecessors and a faithful testimony to the spiritual kinship of our Churches. May this friendship and communication be strengthened more and more on the basis of our common history.

As a sign of our gratitude and in memory of today's historic event, we ask you to accept this gift – the icon of St John, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco the Wonderworker, with a prayer that he may protect the archpastors, pastors and all the pious Serbian people. Amen.

On the same day, in the evening, the members of the delegation visited the sights of Sremski Karlovci and local monasteries under the omophorion of Bishop Vasilije.

Photos: Reader George Konev.