This year marks several important anniversaries for the Serbian Orthodox Church in America and Canada, and especially in connection with the great 20th-century hierarch St. Nikolai (Velimirović).
The Bishops’ Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church gathered at St. Sava’s Cathedral in Belgrade last week, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije. Among other things, the hierarchs called attention to the anniversaries:
- The 100th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of America and Canada, the first Serbian diocese in North America
- The 140th anniversary of the birth of St. Nikolai
- The 65th anniversary of his holy repose
- The 30th anniversary of the transfer of his holy relics from Libertyville, Illinois, to his native Lelić in Serbia
- Also, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovac
The Council noted the anniversaries “with satisfaction,” and called upon all dioceses of the Serbian Church “to mark these important anniversaries in a worthy manner,” reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The anniversary of St. Nikolai’s repose was festively celebrated on March 18 at the monastery in Lelić where his relics are treasured.
On March 23, His Grace Bishop Irenej of the Eastern American Diocese of the Serbian Church offered a lecture, “St. Nikolai: His Later Years,” at St. Tikhon’s Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, where St. Nikolai labored as professor and rector. It was there that he reposed in the Lord on March 18, 1956, after years of serving the Church in Serbia and America.
