The great Christian holiday Sretenje, which is celebrated on the fortieth day after the Nativity of Christ in memory of the wonderful event when the Most Holy Virgin brought her Son to the temple to dedicate him to God, was celebrated in a congregational and prayerful manner in the Church of St. Nicholas in the Old Town of Kotor today, February 15, 2025 of the year of our Lord.
The entire hymnography of the holiday, in addition to a very beautiful and meaningful description of the saving event, emphasizes the central moment of the meeting of God and man. The feast also has its own prayer for the ambo: “Master, Lord God, You sent Your Only-begotten Son and Logos, born of a woman and under the law, into the world, to redeem those who were under the law, and through Your Spirit You foretold His coming to the elder Simeon and announced it to him; You Yourself also bless us, Your unworthy servants, with Your light, and as You received the confession of the prophetess Anna, receive our prayers; and make us worthy to be embraced by the wise arms of Your incarnate Logos, and to be anointed with Your All-Holy Spirit in the sanctified temples; Our faithful people rejoice with Your power, granting them victory over their enemies, so that in us too the glorious name of Your and Your Only-Begotten Son and Your adored and Life-giving Spirit may be glorified, now and ever and unto the ages of ages, amen.”
The Feast of the Meeting of the Lord has one pre-feast day and seven post-feast days.
The Meeting is the Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia and the Republika Srpska.
The Holy Liturgy in the Church of St. Nicholas, where numerous believers received the Holy Sacrament of Communion, was served by the hierarchal vicar of Kotor-Tivat, Archpriest-Staurophorus Nemanja Krivokapić, Archpriest-Staurophorus Milenko Jekić and Priest Mihajlo Lazarević.