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Orthodox Christmas Eve at St. Nicholas' Church in Priština
Serbia to celebrate Christmas
Christ is Born!
07. January 2011. | 08:44 16:00
Source: Emg, Tanjug, Beta
Photo: Beta
Serbian President Boris Tadić and other highest state officials and representatives of religious communities felicitated Christmas to Serbian Patriarch Irinej, the priesthood of the Serbian Orthodox Church and all the believers celebrating this festival according to the Julian calendar, on 7 January. Bozidar Djelic will visit Kosovska Mitrovica, Prizren, Decani Monastery and the Pec Patriarchate for Christmas holidays on 6 and 7 January.
Serbia will celebrate Christmas - the birth of Christ - on January 7 at midnight by a liturgy at the Belgrade St. Sava cathedral served by Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch Irinej.
The Orthodox faithful are celebrating Christmas Eve on Jan. 6 and Christmas on Jan. 7.
The celebration starts during the day on Jan. 6, when believers go to the woods to get a yule log, which is burnt at the hearth in the evening. It is the symbol of light and warmth that warms up and brings the family members closer. The faithful observe a 40-day fast, while meals are abundant on Christmas.
Besides SPC, Christmas is celebrated on January 7 also by The Russian Orthodox Church, the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Mt. Athos monasteries, Greeks who follow the old calendar and the Copts in Egypt.
December 25 was established as the date of the birth of Christ and is celebrated by Christians worldwide.
SPC celebrates Christmas for three days. The second day is devoted to the Virgin Mary and the third to St. Stephen.
Divine Liturgy to be served in Prizren after over 10 years
Archimandrite Sava Janjic stated that the Divine Liturgy will be another call for the expelled people to return to Kosovo, and expressed hope that the intensifying of church life should encourage believers to return to Prizren.
For the first time after more than ten years, the Divine Liturgy will be served in Prizren by Bishop of Raska and Prizren Teodosije in the Cathedral church of St. George on Christmas.
Archimandrite Sava Janjic stated that the Divine Liturgy will be another call for the expelled people to return to Kosovo, and expressed hope that the intensifying of church life should encourage believers to return to Prizren.
Bishop Teodosije spent Christmas Eve in northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, and held a liturgy in the St. Demetrios Church.
Djelic to spend Orthodox Christmas in Kosovo-Metohija
Some 20 Serbs attended Orthodox Christmas Eve at St. Nicholas' Church in Priština. . About 40,000 Serbs lived in Priština before the 1999 war, but only 40 managed to remain in their homes. The church itself was recently rebuilt after it was destroyed in 2004 by ethnic Albanian extremists
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic will visit Kosovska Mitrovica, Prizren, Decani Monastery and the Pec Patriarchate for Christmas holidays on 6 and 7 January.
Serbian President Boris Tadić and other highest state officials and representatives of religious communities felicitated Christmas to Serbian Patriarch Irinej, the priesthood of the Serbian Orthodox Church and all the believers celebrating this festival according to the Julian calendar, on 7 January.
Djelic attended the festive evening worship in the church of St. Demetrius.Djelic will spend Christmas day in Prizren, to attend the Christmas Holy Liturgy in the church of St. George in Prizren.The Deputy Prime Minister's visit will end on the same day at the Patriarchate of Pec.
Tadic’s greetings read that this joyous festival should be spent in peace and happiness and in the circle of one’s family and friends.
PM Mirko Cvetković wrote that family gatherings during festival days should bring joy, love and peace in one’s homes and that the forthcoming year should bring much personal and family happiness, health, success and progress to everyone.
Parliament Speaker Slavica Đukić Dejanovic wrote that the forthcoming year should bring love and peace to all.
The head of the Islamic Community in Serbia, Adem Zilkić, said he prayed to God for mutual love and respect among people of all faiths, emphasizing Jesus Christ has changed history and obliged humankind to measure time since the day of his birth.
The celebration of the Christmas Day, the day of Christ's nativity and the most joyous event for the Christian world, started at midnight in the St. Sava Cathedral in the Belgrade district of Vracar, where Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) served the Christmas Liturgy.
The liturgy was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Milan Markovic and numerous believers.
Before the gathered congregation, head of the St. Sava Cathedral Radivoje Panic read out Patriarch Irinej's Christmas Address, in which the patriarch reminded that Christmas is a holiday devoted to peace, love, forgiveness and reconciliation.
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