“We are witnesses in Kosovo and Metohija to our suffering and to the cross, but we are also witnesses to resurrection and renewal,” Metropolitan Teodosije said today from Banjska Monastery.
The monastery celebrated its patronal feast – the Translation of the Relics of St. Stephen the Protomartyr and Archdeacon – with a liturgy attended by a large number of faithful. The service was led by Bishop Grigorije of Düsseldorf and Germany, Metropolitan Teodosije, and Bishop Ilarion of Novo Brdo, joined by the clergy and monastics of the Eparchy.
The occasion also marked the 21st anniversary of the revival of monastic life at Banjska, which had lain abandoned for 520 years until August 15, 2004, when the late Serbian Patriarch Pavle celebrated the first hierarchical liturgy there with fellow bishops.
No representatives of the Srpska Lista political party attended the feast, though members of the Greek KFOR contingent were present.
Metropolitan Teodosije shared a message of resilience, describing the Christian path as one of the cross and suffering – but never meaningless.
“After the cross, after Golgotha, after the crucifixion, the Lord gives us renewal and resurrection,” he said. He thanked Bishop Grigorije for his unwavering support of Kosovo, adding: “This holy liturgy means a great deal to us, especially here in this monastery, where we have endured, suffered, and remained through God’s power and grace.”
Both hierarchs refrained from direct references to the September 2023 armed clash in Banjska, though Metropolitan Teodosije acknowledged Banjska’s history as both a place of light and of suffering.
He urged the faithful to safeguard their lives and make righteous choices.
“Sin is a wrong choice, a turning away from God. If we choose wrongly and sin, the Lord will allow it, but we will bear the consequences for years and even centuries,” he warned.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
