Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia celebrated the Divine Liturgy on January 14, 2025, the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, and the day the Church honors Saint Basil the Great, in the Cathedral of Belgrade.
Concelebrating with him were the auxiliary bishops Alexios of Hvosno and Tikhon of Moravica; the protopresbyters-cross-bearers Petar Lukić, Branko Topalović, and Djuro Skocić; the protopresbyter Slavisa Popović; the presbyter Radovan Radovanović; the archdeacons Damjan Božić and Radomir Vrućinić; as well as the deacons Nikolai Vuković and Basil Perić.
After the reading of the Holy Gospel, Bishop Alexios delivered a sermon on the feast, emphasizing the sacrifice through which the Lord accepted the pain of the sins of all humanity, as well as the spiritual work of Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea. He made special mention of the beginning of the New Year according to the Julian or Old Calendar.
After the Divine Liturgy, Patriarch Porfirije blessed the festive gifts for the celebration of the historic First Choral Society of Belgrade, founded on the same day in 1853, saying: “May prayer and Holy Communion be for your health and salvation. Brothers and sisters, we congratulate the First Choral Society of Belgrade on its feast today and express our gratitude for the wonderful chanting during the Divine Liturgy, as well as for its continuous presence for nearly two centuries in the Cathedral of Belgrade and around the world, wherever Orthodox Serbs gather to pray with faith in God. May the Lord bless all the current members of the choir of the First Choral Society and grant eternal life to those who served before them, so that with their prayers, we too may advance in chanting, in glorifying God, and in every virtue and good work. We especially congratulate the younger members of the choir, praying that God grants them the example of the Saints and those who worked to build the First Choral Society of Belgrade. May God bless us all.”
Patriarch Porfirije also extended his congratulations for the New Year, saying: “May each day be a new beginning for us, each day an opportunity to serve God and the people, and each year dedicated to the Lord, which means realizing that God is already with us, but also continually choosing to be with Him. This is the only proper and healthy way of life. May you all be blessed! Many years to you all!”
