Patriarch Irinej of Serbia visited the Diocese of Nis on the occasion of the consecration of great shrines in Kursumlija and Prolom Banja on October 3 and 4, 2020.
Serbian Patriarch Irinej was greeted by Bishop Arsenije of Nis together with Bishop Ilarion of Timok, clergy and the faithful people of the God-protected Diocese of Nis in the church-yard of the monastery of St. Nicholas in Kursumlija on October 3, 2020.
The Patriarch and Bishops attended the Vesper service officiated by archimandrite Serafim (Misic), with the concelebration of archimandrite Rafailo (Golusin), archimandrite Damaskin (Grabez) and some other priests.
Bishop Arsenija of Nis delivered a sermon on the history of the monastery of St. Nicholas at Kursumlija, thanking the Primate of the Serbian Church for having come to bless the faithful of the Diocese of Nis, who had been previously headed by him for almost three decades.
After the Vesper service, the Patriarch consecrated new bells for the northern tower on the plateau in front of the church, reconstruction of which was completed this year. After the consecration of the bells, Patriarch Irinej addressed the present clergy and faithful, expressing joy that he saw the renewed sanctuary.
The Patriarch also expressed hope that another Nemanjic church-monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God, foundations of which are located not far from the Kursumlija monastery, will also be renovated.
All benefactors, institutions and individuals who financially supported the northern tower, one of the two oldest endowments of the Great Duke Stefan Nemanja, received high church recognitions, thereby marking a great jubilee that solemnly marked in 2019 – 850 years of Nemanja’s endowments. The Order of Saint Sava of the first degree was awarded to the great benefactor of the Church, Radovan Raicevic from Plocnik, General Manager of Planinka JSC at Kursumlija, while the Order of Saint Sava of the second degree was awarded to Vladan Vukosavljevic, Minister of Culture and Information; Municipality of Kursumlija and Joint Stock Company Planinka from Kursumlija. President of the Municipality of Kursumlija Radoljub Vidic was awarded the Order of the Holy King Milutin, while the Order of the Holy Roman of Djunis of the second degree was awarded to Dragoslav Ilic from Kursumlija, Zlatko Veljovic from Kursumlija, Radoja Pavlovic from Pretezan and Zarko Djuric from Kaludra. The Bishop’s Charters of acknowledgement were awarded to the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments – Belgrade and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments – Nis.
Source: Serbian Orthodox Church
