PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE: BELGRADE TODAY IS PRAYERFUL CENTRE OF ENTIRE SERB PEOPLE

BELGRADE, MAY 21 /SRNA/ - His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia said in his sermon at the end of the Ascension procession at the Church of Saint Sava in Vračar that Belgrade today is the prayerful heart and centre of the entire Serb people wherever they may live.

"The Ascension procession is nothing other than the living prayer of our Serbian Orthodox Church; it is a step of faith, hope, and love," Patriarch Porfirije emphasized. The Patriarch said it was no coincidence that God allowed "His mother, the Most Holy Theotokos, through Her gracious and honorable Belt," to be in Belgrade today with the Serb people. His Holiness said that faith should enter every street, home, and heart, and called on all people to be better toward their neighbours. The Patriarch thanked Ephraim of Vatopedi, abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos, and Methodije, abbot of Hilandar Monastery, for bringing the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos from Mount Athos to Serbia. The patron saint day of Serbia’s capital, Ascension Day – Spasovdan, was marked today with a religious procession through the central city streets, led by one of the greatest relics of Orthodoxy - the miraculous Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos.