His Eminence Archbishop of Cetinje, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Joanikije, celebrated the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy today, on the feast of the Venerable Simon - Holy King of Serbia Stephen the First-Crowned, in the Studenica Monastery, on the occasion of the monastery's feast.

In a welcoming speech after the dismissal, the host, His Eminence Archbishop and Metropolitan of Žica, Dr. Justin, addressed the faithful. He expressed his joy at the arrival of Metropolitan Joanikije and emphasized that the prayerful intercession of the saints whose relics are on the soil of Montenegro is a great blessing for the Žica diocese.

He noted that no one is saved by their own strength, but only in the Church, the holy mysteries and the holy virtues.

“And today you are in this holy family where the glorious Nemanjićs rest, and the very event that we are here today is a great privilege and blessing from God that the Lord God has ordained us to be here. And that permeates our hearts and our souls and our entire being, and the only thing that remains in all that we are and where we are is great gratitude to the great Lord our God - the King of kings and the Lord of lords,” said Metropolitan Justin and gave the floor to Metropolitan Joanniki.

His Eminence Metropolitan Joanniki expressed his gratitude to Metropolitan Justin for the invitation and congratulated the entire Diocese of Žička on its glory.

"This is a great day for the glorious and great Diocese of Žička, which was headed by Saint Sava, as well as the entire Serbian Church, and this holiday is celebrated today especially in the Diocese of Žička, but it is also celebrated in the entire Serbian Orthodox Church. Today we celebrate not only Saint Simon the Monk, but also Saint King Vladislav and others who are mentioned with them today. When we look at the virtues of the Nemanjić saints, we always somehow wonder as people how they could achieve such great virtues, how they managed to do such great deeds. We know that they were all, starting with Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Bearer and his successors, also people of great and deep faith. We know that they fasted and prayed to God persistently, that they longed for the kingdom of heaven and especially, that they considered that all this was on earth, and the honor and glory that God gave them to to rule, to govern, to lead, to judge, that all this is temporary and short-lived. Saint Simeon somewhere near the end of his life said: I saw that it was all dust and ashes” – Metropolitan Joanikije spoke.

Speaking further about the holy Nemanjićs, Metropolitan Joanikije stated that they were attached to the kingdom of heaven, wanting to incorporate the beauty of the kingdom of heaven, which they had seen with spiritual eyes, into the holy places, into the holy temples of God.

His Eminence reminded us of the words of Bishop Nikolaj that the greatest victory is to conquer oneself, as well as the teaching of Saint Seraphim of Sarov that the goal of life on earth is to gain the Holy Spirit.

"It is ours to fight. First of all, to fight with ourselves, to overcome ourselves - our weaknesses, our flaws, but above all we see that the holy Nemanjici became what they are, because they followed Christ, because they drew grace and mercy and truth and justice and love of God from Him, because they modeled themselves in this way their entire lives and tried to walk the path of Christ and to do everything to unite with Him, to remove every obstacle of sin and everything that prevents a person from uniting with Christ, and we are convinced that the secret of their holiness lies precisely in the fact that they were attached only to Christ the Lord, not to this world, not to the glory and greatness and wealth that they had in the abundance of this world, but to Christ the Lord - stated His Eminence Metropolitan Joanikije.

He highlighted the virtues of Saint Stephen the First-Crowned, who followed in his father's footsteps, but also had great respect for his younger brother Sava, before whom he humbled himself and from whom he learned.

"We see that he was a man of great spirituality, although a ruler and a warrior, but also a spiritual man. It is difficult to combine these, but he combined them. Rarely can anyone combine being in power, and also being pious, full of the fear of God and prayer, spiritual and knowing how to repent and humble himself like Saint Stephen the First-Crowned. And he treated his younger brother Sava as if he were his teacher who was leading him to Christ the Lord and him, but also the entire Serbian people. Wonderful secrets, dear brothers and sisters, a wonderful great legacy of the Nemanjićs - concluded His Eminence Archbishop of Cetinje Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Mr. Joanikije.

Lana Ostojić

Photos: Željko Drašković