On 9 January 2024, on the feast of the Saint Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stefan, on the day when the Republic of Srpska celebrates its Patron Saint’s Day, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije presided over a holy hierarchical Liturgy at the Cathedral church of Christ the Savior in Banja Luka. On this occasion, Patriarch Porfirije conveyed:

– Peace of God, Christ is born! Most Reverend Bishop, dear brother and concelebrant in Christ, brethren hierarchs who serve in obedience to the Church in your dioceses in the Republic of Srpska, esteemed mister and brother President of the Republic of Srpska, dear Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, respected Mayor of Banja Luka, all representatives and leaders of the Orthodox Serbian people in the Republic of Srpska, dearest Orthodox brothers and sisters, people of Banja Luka, and brothers and sisters from the entire Republic of Srpska,

In addition to the joy surrounding+ the Nativity of Christ in the flesh, we have the joy and blessing to congratulate you and each other on the birthday of the Republic of Srpska, but more importantly – the Patron Saint’s Day of the Republic of Srpska. May your Patron Saint’s Day be happy and blessed, and may the prayers of the Holy Archdeacon and Protomartyr Stefan be with all of you!

Saint Stefan is a witness of Christ. Anyone who chooses to celebrate Saint Stefan, to take him as his patron before the Lord, chooses to be a witness of Christ. But at the same time, brothers and sisters, this means that he opted for what this magnificent church symbolizes. It symbolizes the cross. It was raised, built, damaged and destroyed, and then raised and demolished again. However, every demolition suffered, when it comes as a consequence of witnessing the cross, carries the power of victory, and carries the power of renewal and transformation, the power of resurrection. Therefore, the witness of Christ, which is what you have opted for, brothers and sisters, and which is inherent for every Christian, is not determined for the cross that is failure and suffering exclusively and solely, neither for the cross that is pessimism, nor for the cross that is despair. Our destiny it is to bear the Cross, as a great poet said. And indeed, the one who endures, who suffers, logically tends to be desperate, to feel that he is perishing. However, the one who is a witness of Christ has the cross of Christ, and having the cross of Christ means doing everything within our power, doing everything within your power, doing everything within each of us, and doing everything within me. And then, when we do everything we can, just like the Holy Archdeacon and Protomartyr Stefan, surrender ourselves into the hands of Christ and weave our cross into the cross of Christ. In that cross, brothers and sisters, here in the period of the Nativity of Christ, the meaning is revealed to us, and that meaning is the path to victory. The rational eye, the eye of logic may assume that bearing the cross Christ implies failure, and that bearing that cross is exclusively and solely difficult. Yes, it is difficult, but what did the Lord say? When you carry my cross, that is, when you carry your yoke and weave it into mine, it is easy, and the burden is light. Therefore, brothers and sisters, let our cross always be not only ours but Christ's, let us do everything within our capabilities on the path of virtue, on the path of goodness and on the path of love, and let us bring it to the footstool of the cross of Christ, to offer and leave it there, and the rest is His concern. God gives strength and power to the one who strives, as our people translated the language of Gospel. There is no laziness, but it does not mean there is no joy. There is no empty sleep, but it does not mean there is no rejoicing. So, there is no: I cannot, let someone else do it. There is no attributing responsibility to others for what I have not done. There are no excuses! Saint Stefan, the Archdeacon and Protomartyr knew this, and you knew it, and those who were before you and before us knew it as well. We knew that too. Therefore, by God's providence, we have put the Holy Archdeacon and Protomartyr Saint Stefan at the forefront of our journey towards salvation, towards the Heavenly Kingdom, but also towards everything that is ours and should be ours. What is ours, God has given. People think they invented and bestowed it, but we know that even though it came through human hands, even if they are patriarchal, everything we have and everything we are, God has given us. What He gave us is a call to contribute, to be responsible because only when we know that what we have is from God, and when we know that it primarily belongs to God, then we will essentially know in our hearts that it is ours, and then it will be ours. We will know that He gave it to us as a field that we should cultivate, nurture, and care for, to grow everything good so that this field gives the most beautiful, juicy, and valuable fruit, which is our faith, our culture, our people. He gave us this treasure so that we can feed ourselves, live, exist, and so that we may, knowing who we are and what is ours, to the greatest extent and with deepest respect, and – if you want, God calls us to it – with the most profound love, appreciate, respect, and value the gift of others, who have also received from God to be what they are. Then what was given to them, being that God bestowed it to them, may truly be theirs. This is the meaning of the words of Christ: Love your neighbor as yourself. When we love God, we know that our neighbor is the one next to us. When I love Bishop Jefrem, and when he loves me, then I open my heart to be able to love other bishops, brothers in hierarchical rank, but then also you, and by loving you, I am educated by love, I learn how to love, and in the end, I long to become love so that I can recognize the same brother in every person as the one next to me. However, the beginning is not from there, but the beginning is from here, and from here, through concentric circles, that beginning goes to infinity.

So, dear brothers and sisters, this is our faith, the faith of Saint Stefan, which also implies prayer. The last words he directed to the Lord, having achieved and realized to be what he is and not to give up his own at any cost, just because he firmly held onto what was his, he could say: Lord, do not charge them with this injustice they are committing against me. However, if you do not hold onto your own and do not know who you are, you will not be able to say even what they say in an imported language: Pardon! if you have harmed someone. But if you know that you are a follower of Saint Stefan and Saint Sava, if you know that you are Christ's, you know that you must love yourself in order to love others, i.e., what is God's within you and what God has given you.

I wish everyone a happy Saint Patron’s Day, that we have understanding among ourselves, harmony and unity, unity in goodness, in virtue, in honesty, in everything that is holy and righteous, because then, when we have faith, we will achieve what we are called to and what belongs to us. So, may you have unity and harmony, may we have unity and harmony not as, also imported, they tell us: Church and people. That is insidious. There is no Church and people. There is the Church, and that is us, the people of God, and within the Church, each of us has his own place where he should serve. To serve unity, to serve Christ, to serve our Church, to serve our people so that we can then serve the whole world and all the nations of the world, so that we can then pray not only for ourselves but for all people, especially for those with whom we live and among whom we live. May the Lord grant them love and peace, and to all of us, understanding and the feeling that we need each other. Peace of God, Christ is born!