On the day when the Church commemorates the feast of Theophany, on January 18, 2026, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia presided at the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Mirijevo.
Following the reading of the Gospel passage, His Holiness reflected on the greatness and significance of the feasts of Krestovdan and Theophany, emphasizing that while our God is One, He is also a communion of Three Persons.
“In the Lord is both the beginning and the end,” the Patriarch noted. “Thus, the Gospel reading we heard today proclaims the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In essence, it serves as an introduction to the witness of Saint John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for us, to show us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the very content of the Gospel, that He Himself is the Gospel, the Good News. He comes so that in Him we may come to know the truth about God as One in Trinity, and also the truth that man is created in the image of God, and that man is authentic, whole, healthy, and complete only when he fulfills the purpose of his existence—when he lives in an unbreakable communion with God.”
His Holiness further emphasized that the life of Christians cannot be shaped by external rules or ideological frameworks, but must be a life in Christ.
“The Christian life must be a life in Christ, a life of Christ reflected in our own lives,” he said. “The commandments, as the word of Christ, are neither orders nor burdens imposed upon us from the outside. Rather, they are an invitation to a new life—a life that calls for transformation, repentance, and growth from virtue to virtue, as proclaimed by Saint John the Baptist. It is a life in which each day is better than the previous one, and each tomorrow better than today.”
Following the Divine Liturgy, Vespers were celebrated, after which the rite of the Great Blessing of the Waters was performed.
Source: spc.rs
