On September 16, 2025, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia attended the crypt of the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade for the splendid celebration honoring the fiftieth anniversary of the monastic life of Bishop Hvoštan, Mr. Alexios.
Addressing the attendees, and foremost among them Bishop Alexios, Patriarch Porfirije emphasized: “It is a great joy that we have gathered here under the shelter of the cathedral of our people, and essentially under the blessing of Saint Sava, to whom this church is dedicated. For wherever we assemble in the name of Christ, the entire Church is present—heaven and earth together; because in our Church, nothing is individual or isolated, unlike the spirit of the age in which we live. Everything is personal, and therefore everything is also communal; whatever is yours is also mine; for we are all in the hand of Christ and together form one Church, the Church of Christ. Thus, today, as we gather here, heaven and earth meet, and all of us, in the Holy Spirit, rejoice in this jubilee.”
Highlighting that, in our times, jubilees have lost their true meaning and significance, the Patriarch reminded: “Jubilees are days, moments, and years in which we remember not merely events or figures from the past; we do not return to the past, but relying on it, we also look toward and anticipate the future, living it already as reality. For the reality of our Church is eschatological; it is the age to come, present here and now, yet open to our genuine personal participation in it, both as individuals and as a community. Jubilees, therefore, are not merely memories, nor occasions for sentimental gatherings, but possess a far deeper significance.
Jubilees are moments in which we focus on the principles and values that have made us what we are in the present and in the age to come. And we have gathered here to honor, perhaps surprisingly, a remarkable jubilee—the fiftieth anniversary of the monastic tonsure of our Bishop Alexios. And this jubilee, like every other, gives us the opportunity to focus on the foundation of the monastic vocation,” Patriarch Porfirije stressed, recalling the essence of monastic struggle:
“Some might say that a monk is a person who has withdrawn from the world, uninterested in it. But it is incorrect to view monasticism solely as an escape from the world. It is indeed a physical withdrawal, but not out of contempt for the world, for the world is a gift of God; nor out of rejection, but in search of an environment within which one can set the true hierarchy of values in life; to focus on the cornerstone of existence, namely Christ; to establish an authentic relationship and communion with Him, without denying the world or the liturgical life of the Church; so that, being renewed in Christ, not by one’s own powers, one may return, as a new person, to embrace the world and one’s fellow human beings.”
Emphasizing that today’s jubilee concerns not only Bishop Alexios but all of us, the Patriarch reiterated that monastic life rests upon three sacred vows: obedience, chastity, and poverty: “Obedience is not slavery, but adherence to the will of God; chastity is not only for monks, for in marriage we pray that the marital bed be kept pure and that spouses live with chastity, devoted to each other; poverty is not the blind renunciation of possessions, but a way of life free from dependence on worldly things, with complete trust in divine Providence; all that we have is a gift of God, to be used for love and communion.”
Reminding that the Church possesses many gifts and paths, yet all converge upon the one path of love toward God and neighbor, the Patriarch congratulated Bishop Alexios on his jubilee and prayed: “May the flame of the initial zeal of monastic life never be extinguished, but continually burn and become a true evangelical, Christ-like, and God-like fire—a fire of love, of the foolish love, of divine eros—which is the only meaning and the only hope for the past, the present, and the future, not only for us but for the entire world.”
In the artistic part of the program, actors Dragan Mićalović and Viktor Savić performed, alongside the choir of the Saint Sava Theological School in Belgrade and the young artist Pavlina Radovanović. Also present were archbishops, priests, theologians, scientists, and physicians.
