Dear brothers and sisters, dear priests and believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland; those of you who have recently arrived from the home land and those of you who were born here, parents and children and in particular the elderly in nursing homes and the ill in hospitals; those in mourning and those who are distressed or alone, scared and without hope, confused by events that surround us and in the world: to all of you I exclaim with joy, happy Festival of festivals!

CHRIST IS RISEN – HE IS RISEN INDEED!

In the events, suffering and resurrection of the Son of God the secret of life was revealed to us. The Lord God Jesus Christ, the source of life, filled with grace and love, carries our wordly nature and shows us that we are man created in his image, so that together with Him in his glorious festival we show ourselves, always renewed, like the defeaters of death and inhabitants of paradise.

Following the decision of the reputable European NGO for cultural heritage EUROPA NOSTRA from April 8th, 2021, to include the monastery Visoki Dečani, in addition to several other cultural and historical sites in Italy, Austria, Northern Macedonia, Croatia, and Greece, in this year’s list of the seven most endangered cultural monuments in Europe, for days now, we have been witnessing an organized campaign conducted by Kosovo institutions, Kosovo Albanian CSOs (some of which are known for their extreme nationalism) and part of the K/Albanian media.

This campaign aims to present EUROPA NOSTRA as an organization that was reportedly instrumentalized by the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), thus further endangering the holy sites of our Church in Kosovo and Metohija, especially the monastery of Visoki Dečani.

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The Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Pascha, 2021

PORFIRIJE

By the Grace of God

Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

Christ is Risen!

Come, on this auspicious day of the Resurrection, Let us partake of the new fruit of the vine of divine gladness and of the Kingdom of Christ, praising Him as God unto the ages.
(Paschal Canon, Ode eight, the first troparion)

With these words, dear brothers and sisters, glorifying the Resurrection of Christ, the Church calls and gathers us to the pious paschal joy, the joy which surpasses and exceeds all of our earthly celebrations. The pious joy which the Lord has prepared for us is the joy of eternal Life, the eternal victory of Good over evil and the conquering of demons. The most wonderful John Chrysostom exclaimed in the festal delight: “Let no one today be afraid of death, for the Savior’s death has made us free: it is extinguished by Him Whom it had held captive, Hades is despoiled by Him Who has descended into Hades, by receiving His Body Hades has been embittered.”

Letter of condolence