Department for External Church Relations
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Greetings from Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia on the occasion of the 1033d anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’
The message of greetings fr om the Primates of the Serbian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Porfirije, was read out by Bishop Jerotei of Toplica
Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine
Your Beatitude, our dear Brother and Concelebrant in Christ,
His Beatitude Brother Onufriy and fellow-archpastors, priests, monastics, abbesses and their sisters, brothers and sisters, Kievers, and the all faithful people of Ukraine, who firmly and unshakeably safeguard the purity of the Orthodox faith and preserve the seamless robe of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! I congratulate all of you on the great feast - the Day of the Baptism of Rus’ and the commemoration day of your Baptizer - Holy and Most Orthodox Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles.
Your personality and firmly steering the boat of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in this very hard time, our dear Brother in Christ, have become a symbol of faithfulness to the unity of the Orthodox Church and a brave opposition to temptations. The choice you have made after the example of your great predecessor, Metropolitan Vladimir, is comparable to the choice made by the Holy Prince Vladimir, who chose Orthodoxy for himself after familiarizing himself with all the faiths of that time. Faithful to the canonical order and unity with the Orthodox Church, you has repeated the choice made by the Holy Prince Vladimir. Thus, you and your bishops, priests, monastics and people have become a model known to our devout Serbian people as well.
You, Your Beatitude, have shown your brotherly love by coming to that part of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which still encounters similar temptations - to Montenegro. There, together with the late Metropolitan Amfilohije, you prayed for the unity of the Church and led a procession with the cross, which showed that we, Orthodox Serbs, just as the Ukrainian people, will be known to the world because of our faithfulness to Christ and opposition to temptations, which the prince of this world sets before us.
On the day of this great feast, I would like to express to you my great gratitude for the help and love. Thanks to them and to the intercession of Holy Prince Vladimir and St. Sava of Serbia, the Holy Orthodox Church in Serbia, in Ukraine and everywhere, wh ere the faithfulness to Holy Scriptures and canonical order is preserved, will be a glorious victor over the powers of this world.
Your Beatitude, once again, I cordially greet you on the feast, lifting up prayers to the Lord that He may send you strength for further service of your Church and your faithful people.
Archbishop of Pec
Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci
Patriarch of Serbia
Sermons
24.01.2021
06.11.2020