THE CITY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT WELCOMED THE ALEXANDRIAN PATRIARCH

On 27th September 2017, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, together with His Beatitude Patriarch Irenaios of Serbia, officiated at the Service of Orthros, the Elevation of the Precious Cross and the Holy Eucharist at the majestic Holy Church of Ss Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles, in the city of Niš in Serbia, the city in which the Emperor Constantine the Great, Equal to the Apostles, was born in 274 A.D.

The Divine Liturgy was conducted by the local Metropolitan Arsenios Bishop of Niš, together with the Clergy of the District, in the presence of Hierarchs from the Alexandrian and Serbian Churches.

Present at the Eucharistic gathering was also the Deputy Mayor of the city of Niš, Professor Miloš Banđu, who gave His Beatitude a silver statuette of St Constantine, to remind him of the birthplace of the Great Emperor, Equal to the Apostles.

Before the Dismissal, His Beatitude spoke to the large congregation, on the meaning of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross in the life of the Church and for all Christians.

Afterwards, the two Primates visited the Theological Seminary of the Holy Diocese of Niš, where they were welcomed by the almost 100 students and lecturers of the Seminary, and they had the opportunity to discuss with them issues for which they are concerned.

They then drove to the Ravanica Monastery, where Abbess Mariam together with the Sisters, conducted an official Doxology in the Monastery Church in honour of the Alexandrian Primate. Kept in the Church, as a precious relic, are the imperishable relics of St Lazaros, King of Serbia.

His Beatitude thanked the Sisters for the welcome and, addressing Patriarch Irenaios, expressed his gratitude for the hospitality and the love with which he had surrounded him in the recent days, as with this pilgrimage his official cordial visit to the sister Serbian Church and the sacred relics of the pious Serbian Nation, is completed.