The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God was solemnly celebrated at Studenica Monastery. The temple’s Slava was celebrated with an all-night vigil, which is a special experience in the setting of the ancient Nemanjic sanctuary.
On the day of the feast the Holy Liturgy was served, which was presided over by the abbot of Studenenica Monastery Archimandrite Dr. Tihon (Rakićević), with the concelebration of Hieromonks Vitalije (Milošević) and Paladije (Vukšić), protopriest Aleksandar Jevtić and priest Aleksandar Bojović.
On the festive theme, father Aleksandar Jevtic said: „We have the term “Koismesis” (ouspenie – Ascent) as an experience of our life – we never stand still, we either progress or regress. St. Ephrem the Syrian says that heaven was on a high place so that man would always look up. Not to focus too much on oneself, the present or the past – because God comes from the future. This is how we restore our fallen state that was left to us by our first parents. That is why Saint Sava told the brothers of Studenica Monastery that their minds should be focused on heavenly beauties.
Through fasting, we restore that heavenly image, just as the frescoes in this monastery are restored. We do not create new paths, we continue along the well-trodden paths of our Fathers. From the Holy Mother of God, we learn the most important lesson of fasting: to accept God’s will for us. When we learn that, even death will not seem terrible to us – that is exactly why today we celebrate the feast of her Assumption as a pledge of joy, not sadness, said Father Alexander. After the communion of a large number of believers, who visited the shrine from different parts of the world on this holiday, a walk around the temple was made three times. Cakes and grain were consecrated on the plateau in front of the entrance to the temple, and then the dismissal followed.
The festive celebration continued with the service in the monastery courtyard, illuminated by the sun’s rays and the joy of the old and young guests of the monastery’s Slava.
Brotherhood of the Monastery
