Glorious veteran fighters of Košare and Paštrik attended the Paschal Vespers service served on 5 May 2024 in the church of Saint Sava. This service, which is also known as the Vespers of love, was presided over by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije.

- Today we celebrate the victory of life over death. Today we celebrate the victory of truth over lies, the victory of justice over injustice. Celebrating life, truth, and justice, we know that beyond the resurrected Christ, apart from Christ, in this transient world, it is not possible for life to triumph, for truth to triumph, for justice to triumph. It is possible exclusively and only through the resurrected Christ to participate in what He Himself said about Himself – that He is the truth, the way, and the life, that He is justice. And life, truth, and justice are gifts of God, the unique and ultimate gifts of God, the gift of God's love – Patriarch Porfirije conveyed, emphasizing: – God is love by His very essence, and therefore, because He is love, He could not and cannot agree that the final victory and the last word belong to death, to lies, to injustice and hatred, but the gifts of God as an expression of God's love can become our reality and our actuality in which we live, in which we participate with all our being, only when we are Christ's, only then – as this passage from the Gospel testifies – when we have faith in Christ.

The Serbian Patriarch highlighted the joy that veterans, heroes from Košare and Paštrik, fighters who are imbued with faith in Christ, faith in the Resurrection of Christ, gathered that day in the church of Saint Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop. – That is why they could be true fighters, just as Serbian fighters have always been, strong, fearless in battles, but when battles and wars cease, merciful, ready to forgive, to love, and to extend a hand to every person, a hand of reconciliation, a hand of embrace. Such were always those who understood Christ's word that there is nothing greater than to lay down one's life for one's neighbors, just as the Lord Himself did for every person – the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church conveyed, whose entire sermon in Serbian you can read HERE.

During the Vespers of Love, the Gospel in which the risen Lord appears to His disciples, was read in nine languages. Concelebrating with His Holiness, there were the Most Reverend Bishop of Jegar kyr Nektarije, Vicar of the Serbian Patriarch, together with the clergy, with the prayerful participation of the Most Reverend Bishops Dositej of Lipljan and Petar of Toplica; Protopresbyter Đorđe Stojisavljević, Head of the Office of the Serbian Patriarch, the clergy of the Archdiocese of Belgrade-Karlovci, and the devout people of the capital.

After the festive service, Patriarch Porfirije hosted a reception at the Saint Sava Parish House for the heroes from Paštrik and Košare, engaging in warm paternal conversation with them, in a festive atmosphere, and on that occasion, he presented them with befitting gifts – the New Testament and an icon of Saint Sava.