In the joyful and solemn spirit of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, when the Church of Christ celebrates the victory of the true faith over the iconoclastic heresy and solemnly confesses the truth of the Incarnation of the Son of God, the bells and crosses for the Church of Saint Sava were solemnly consecrated at the Old Airport in Podgorica, within the complex of the Orthodox Gymnasium "Saint Sava".
The solemn act of consecration was performed by His Eminence Archbishop of Cetinje, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Mr. Joanikije with the concelebration of Archpriest-Staurophorus Gojko Perović, the hierarchal vicar of Podgorica-Kolašin, Archpriest-Staurophorus Mileta Kljajević, Archpriest-Staurophorus Slobodan Zeković, the elder of the Cathedral Church of St. John Vladimir in Bar, as well as Archpriest Mirčeta Šljivančanin, the elder of the Church of St. George near Gorica.

Metropolitan Joanikije addressed the gathering, emphasizing that whenever we gather in the name of God, we gather for the work of the Lord, and that God has granted us the opportunity to build a temple to Saint Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, on this consecrated site, next to the Orthodox Gymnasium of Saint Sava in Podgorica: "This is a day of joy, a solemn and great day, both because of the holiday itself, and especially because of today's act, because by the grace of God we have gathered today to consecrate these holy crosses and these bells, to ring out every holy service here, to call the people to prayer."

Metropolitan Joanikije consecrated the bells and crosses for the Church of Saint Sava in Podgorica: This is a great joy and blessing
In the joyful and solemn spirit of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, when the Church of Christ celebrates the victory of the true faith over the iconoclastic heresy and solemnly confesses the truth of the Incarnation of the Son of God, the bells and crosses for the Church of Saint Sava were solemnly consecrated at the Old Airport in Podgorica, within the complex of the Orthodox Gymnasium "Saint Sava".
The solemn act of consecration was performed by His Eminence Archbishop of Cetinje, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Mr. Joanikije with the concelebration of Archpriest-Staurophorus Gojko Perović, the hierarchal vicar of Podgorica-Kolašin, Archpriest-Staurophorus Mileta Kljajević, Archpriest-Staurophorus Slobodan Zeković, the elder of the Cathedral Church of St. John Vladimir in Bar, as well as Archpriest Mirčeta Šljivančanin, the elder of the Church of St. George near Gorica.

Metropolitan Joanikije addressed the gathering, emphasizing that whenever we gather in the name of God, we gather for the work of the Lord, and that God has granted us the opportunity to build a temple to Saint Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, on this consecrated site, next to the Orthodox Gymnasium of Saint Sava in Podgorica: "This is a day of joy, a solemn and great day, both because of the holiday itself and especially because of today's event, because by the grace of God we have gathered to consecrate these holy crosses and these bells today, to ring every holy service here, to convene the Lord's Supper." Mr. Risto Drekalović, founder of the Temple of Saint Sava, in his short speech referred to the symbolism of the cross and said that crosses have been torn down for 2,000 years, but that they are being rebuilt, just like this one here today: "And God will give what is most important." – that this church may be full of God-pleasing people, because we already have a good priest at the head of this Church.”

In front of several hundred gathered believers, among whom were many children and students, the bells were consecrated to call to prayer and assembly with their sound, and the crosses to shine over the temple, which is rapidly taking on its final form as a sign of Christ’s victory over death. In the dynamics of the works that are proceeding with exceptional dedication and zeal, this act represents not only a constructional, but also a deeply conciliar event – ​​the seal of joint effort, faith and hope.

Thus, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, as a sign of the victory of truth, the new Temple of Saint Sava received its bells and crosses – to be a testimony of the living Church and the conciliar joy of the people of God in the heart of Podgorica.

Speech by His Eminence Archbishop of Cetinje, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Mr. Joanikije

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Venerable father priests, gentlemen founders of this holy temple, dear brothers and sisters, dear children.

Whenever we gather in the name of God, as we have gathered here today after the Holy Liturgy in the name of Christ, then we gather, together with us the Holy Angels of God, for the work of the Lord. Behold, God has granted that on this consecrated place a temple be built to our Holy Father Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, next to the Orthodox Gymnasium of St. Sava in Podgorica. to the people for prayer.

We know from our history, especially from the 19th century, when the first schools began to be built, that they were always built somewhere near a church, usually on church property, so that children who went to school would also visit the temple, so that while learning the sciences at school, they would also learn the Holy Gospel. So that in this way, by learning and praying to God, they would follow the path of the Holy Apostles and Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius and our Holy Father Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, who was indeed a great man of prayer, a great ascetic, and an ascetic, but who also spent his entire century engaged in books, and invested all his strength in enlightening, improving, and beautifying both his state and his people, in elevating and enlightening them spiritually, culturally, and in every other respect.

We also followed some other paths in the 20th century, but now in the 21st century we have seen that this pattern of unity, closeness, mutual interpenetration of the Church and school, education and the Gospel, which enlightens with the light of God every person who comes into the world, that this pattern is given by God. And that no one can lay another foundation except the one that has already been laid, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who is the source of all knowledge and all wisdom and all good. So we return to this teaching and learn by following not only Saint Sava, but also all the other greatest figures from our lineage: Saint Peter of Cetinje, Saint Basil of Ostrog, Saint Peter II of Lovcen, Saint Bishop Nicholas, Father Justin, Saint Simeon of Daybaba and our blessed Metropolitan Amphilochius.

Dear brothers and sisters, this is a great joy. Here, this church has been built and will soon be completed, and the Orthodox Gymnasium, we hope, in a month or a little more will be ready for occupancy, and that our children, who have studied in rather cramped conditions until now and have shown extraordinary results from that cramped conditions, because they did not have enough space, now that they have such a modern and beautiful and spacious and bright school, I hope that they will show even greater results and even better success.

We thank God, who is the source of all good, and we pray to Saint Sava, as he has spiritually guided us so far, to continue to spiritually guide us and bring us to Christ the Lord and to represent us before the throne of God, so that we may complete this work.

God also gave us our great founder, Mr. Risto Drekalović, our brother in Christ, who is capable of doing great things and employing many people, of acquiring and earning money and of enabling others to earn money and support their families, but not only that – God gave him in his heart a great love for the Church. He has helped everywhere before and we know that in many places he did not want it to be known or seen, and God of course sees everything, so he decided to build this temple and he helped a lot with the construction of this school, both he and his son Nikola. And may Saint Nikola, their godfather, be at their aid. May the Lord grant health and happiness and progress to him and his family and his descendants, for this great love he has shown for his Church.

And may this common work of ours be a blessing to all of you, and especially to those who will study and who will teach children here in this school. May this be a blessing to the city of Podgorica and Montenegro and to our entire suffering people.

Now, this is a day of joy, a solemn great day both because of the holiday itself, and especially because of this today's act, because by the grace of God we have gathered today to consecrate these holy crosses that will later be erected - it takes a lot of knowledge and skill to do all this beautifully - and for these bells to ring here at every holy service, to summon the people to prayer. May their sacred sound drive away all enemies hiding in the air and all demonic traps, and may they be torn apart and driven far away by the power of the Holy Cross of Christ.

May everyone be in good health. We thank our honorable founder, all of you for your love. We especially thank our father Dalibor, who truly made a great sacrifice here, because such buildings as the temple of God and the Orthodox Gymnasium, a school where our children will learn all secular sciences, but also the Gospel of God, cannot be erected and beautifully designed without the presence and sacrifice of one of the priests. So we appointed our father Dalibor, who is a diligent and wise, and patient priest, to oversee the construction of this holy temple, and it seems to me that he has already gained so much experience that in a little while, with the help of a good engineer, he could also be the main supervisory authority.

To everyone for health, happiness and joy. Amen, God! May this temple be consecrated soon and this school be filled with children and that there will be good teaching in it and that our children who will study in this school will be good Christians and achieve the greatest results in science, bringing joy to their parents and their Church and their homeland.

Amen, God, give us many and blessed summers!

Address of the founder Mr. Risto Drekalović

2,000 years ago, God came down to earth and told the people the words of God. And those who did not want to hear the words of God, crucified him on the cross, thinking that in this way they would destroy the word of God - crush these words with that cross, as a symbol of death.

It is interesting that, by a miracle of God, it is really interesting that after that the cross became a symbol and a guide for people where to go and how to seek God's way. Now those who at first thought that this cross, as a symbol of death, would destroy Christianity, suddenly found themselves in a state of wonder, and it suddenly became a symbol of life. Now, what should they do now? First they erected it as a symbol of death, and now suddenly they found themselves in a dilemma, they should tear it down because it had become a symbol of life.

So for 2,000 years they have been tearing down crosses, but thank God crosses are being erected again, like this one here today, God willing, on this church. And God willing what is most important – that this church be full of God-pleasing people, because we already have a good priest at the head of this Church.

Thank you!

Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral