HOLY BELT OF THE MOTHER OF GOD CEREMONIALLY FAREWELLED FROM VRAČAR CATHEDRAL CHURCH

BELGRADE, JUNE 6 /SRNA/ – The Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was ceremonially farewelled today from Saint Sava Cathedral Church in Vračar and sent back to Mount Athos with both ecclesiastical and state honours.

The farewell ceremony was preceded by an Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God, served by His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbian, concelebrated by bishops, Archimandrite Ephraim together with the hieromonks of the Vatopedi Monastery, and local clergy. “Serbia is an Orthodox country, and the people have proven this, as more than one million people came to venerate the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos,” Archimandrite Ephraim said in his address at the church after the Akathist service. Earlier this morning, a Divine Hierarchical Liturgy was served at Saint Sava Cathedral Church in Vračar. The patriarch of Serbia has said today that the blessing brought by the Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos during its visit among the Serb people is not departing, because everything received through faith, prayer, and repentance remains as an everlasting gift. A large number of faithful gathered for the ceremonial farewell of the Belt of the Mother of God as it departed from Saint Sava Cathedral Church for the Vatopedi Monastery. The Belt was escorted from Vračar to Belgrade Airport, from where it will be flown back to Mount Athos.