MORE THAN 1,1 MILLION PEOPLE VENERATED THE HOLY BELT OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS IN BELGRADE

BELGRADE, JUNE 6 /SRNA/ – More than 1,1 million people venerated the Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos during its stay in Belgrade, according to updated data released by the Serbian Orthodox Church.

“From the arrival of the Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos at Belgrade’s Ascension Church on the eve of the Feast of the Ascension /Spasovdan/, and subsequently at Saint Sava Cathedral Church in Vračar, more than 1.1 million people have venerated the Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos,” the Serbian Orthodox Church stated on its website. One of Christian most revered relics was ceremonially sent today to the royal lavra of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos following the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy and the Akathist service at Saint Sava Cathedral Church, with the highest state and ecclesiastical honours, accompanied by Serbia’s national anthem, “Bože pravde” /“God of Justice”/. Archimandrite Ephraim, abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery, said today that more than one million people venerated the Belt of the Mother of God at Saint Sava Ctahedral Church in Vračar. “Serbia is an Orthodox country, and the people have demonstrated this, as more than one million people came to venerate the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos,” Archimandrite Ephraim said in his address following the Akathist service to the Mother of God. The Holy Belt arrived from the Vatopedi Monastery on the occasion of Belgrade’s patron saint’s day, Spasovdan, and was carried through the city centre during the traditional Spasovdan procession from the Ascension Church to Saint Sava Cathedral Church. The relic was originally scheduled to remain in Belgrade until May 29, but its stay was extended twice.