Chronicle of significant events in the past year – the direction in which the Church will walk in the coming period
Our dear spiritual children! As at the beginning of every New Year of the Lord's love, from the throne of Saint Sava we send you a prayerful greeting and wishes that you spend the coming year 2026 in every good and blessing of God, in peace and love.
The past year, we remind you, was marked by the 850th anniversary of the birth of Saint Sava, the Equal-to-the-Apostles enlightener of Serbia. Throughout the year, we have reminded ourselves in various ways, first of all, but also all of you, dear spiritual children, of the saint's life, and especially of one of the series of miraculous events from the life of Saint Sava. We hoped and still hope that it will be an example and a lesson for us in our time. This is, of course, about the reconciliation of the power of the feuding brothers over the relics of their father, Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Bearer, in 1207 in the Holy Lavra in Studenica.
This time, by pointing to a decisive example of the reconciliation of brothers, we will also try to shed light on an issue that is once again being imposed on our people, of a spiritual nature, and relates to our cultural, religious and civilizational orientation, through the person and work of Saint Sava. The circumstances that lead to the occasional imposition of this issue have not changed from the time of Saint Sava to the present day, and are mostly political, and only subsequently spiritual in nature. Namely, our people's house, as is known, was built in the middle of the road, and not just any road, but the one called Via Militaris (Military Road). This path connects and separates East and West, so that we have very often, whether we like it or not, found ourselves on the very scene of conflict between East and West. In order to survive, the Lord first granted Saint Sava, and then many Serbs throughout history – I would say that it has become our national trait – the ability to combine within ourselves the best, but not only the best, qualities of a Western man and a Eastern man. Following the Athos monk Saint Sava, a Serb knows what prayer and prayerful silence are, what repentance is, what fasting and renunciation are for the good of one’s neighbor, and even for the good of one’s enemy.
But, like Saint Sava, an Orthodox Serb of all centuries knows how to be an effective worker, missionary and traveler, an energetic organizer who solves the problems of both ordinary people and organizations and large systems. Therefore, Saint Bishop Nicholas said that we can be above East and West, understanding that the Orthodox faith contains the answer to the existential impasse.
And today, again and again, through decisions regarding the resolution of economic, political and social issues, we are actually told and posed the dilemma of which civilizational circle the Serbian people belong to. As if after more than eight centuries we should once again decide on some new, modern identity. We know that Saint Sava, as well as us today, faced great challenges and temptations. However, Saint Sava nevertheless, at a time when the Orthodox empire we call Byzantium was defeated, and the emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople were exiled to Asia Minor, uncompromisingly decided for Christ's Orthodox Church and the culture and way of life marked with the Orthodox Christian seal.
We, however, as heirs of the experience of Sava, the experience of all the holy Nemanjićs, but also of the generations that did not deviate from Sava's path neither under Ottoman slavery nor under the temptations of later times, know that we have no other way than the way of Christ - the way that leads to life. The Serbian people, like every people, today need moral renewal. Every healthy person and community has rested, rests and will rest on the principles of the Gospel and the living faith in the Living God, confirmed for centuries by our holy ancestors. May it be so in our cross-bearing and Saint Sava family today and in all centuries. Amen!
Your prayer book before the cradle of Christ the God-Child,
AEM and Serbian Patriarch
PORPHYRIJE
Source: Serbian Orthodox Church