With the blessing of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije and under the high patronage of Mr. Nenad Popović, Minister responsible for international economic cooperation and the social position of the Church in the country and abroad, a conference entitled The Relationship Between the Vatopedi Monastery and Orthodox Serbians at the Crossroads of Past and Present was held on 26 May 2026 at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade.
 
– Filled with joy in the Ascended Christ, who gathers times, nations, and generations into the one living Body of His Church, we open this gathering dedicated to the relationship between the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi and Orthodox Serbians at the crossroads of past and present. We are not gathered today merely to discuss history. We are assembled in order gratefully to listen to the living Tradition of the Church, in which the past is not dead memory, the present is not an accidental moment, and the future is not uncertainty without meaning. In the Church, even memory itself is called to become Eucharist: a grateful offering to God of what we are, what we remember, and what we receive as a gift, for, according to the words of the Psalmist, “great are the works of the Lord,” and worthy to be preserved with thanksgiving – stated His Holiness Patriarch kyr Porfirije while opening, as he said, the gathering standing in the light of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord – The Savior’s Day, the patronal feast of the God-protected capital city of Belgrade:
 
– In the mystery of the Ascension the fullness of the economy of salvation is revealed. Christ, the Conqueror of death, raises human nature into the glory of the Father and thereby shows that man was created not for transience, but for the Kingdom of God. Therefore, on this Feast the Church not only remembers the event of the Ascension but liturgically confesses and glorifies it with the words of the troparion: “You ascended in glory, O Christ our God, after You filled the disciples with the joy, by promising to send them the Holy Spirit.” The joy of the disciples is also our joy, for the Lord did not abandon the world, but through the Holy Spirit made it the space of His grace.
– In this blessed union of feast, procession, and conciliar remembrance, the arrival of the Honorable Cincture of the Most Holy Theotokos from the holy Vatopedi monastery in Belgrade brings us particular joy. This holy relic, preserved for centuries in the prayerful heart of Mount Athos, is for us not merely an object of veneration and admiration, but a living sign of the maternal closeness of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos. Before this holy relic we stand with faith and gratitude, recognizing in it the grace-filled sign of the maternal intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, who leads us to Christ, Her Son and our God. For when the Church glorifies the Most Holy Theotokos, she thereby confesses the mystery of the Incarnation: that the Son of God received flesh from Her for our sake and for our salvation – emphasized the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church, adding:
 
– The Honorable Cincture, according to the Tradition of the Church, is connected with the mystery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos and Her heavenly intercession. Like a quiet yet unbreakable thread, it links Jerusalem, Constantinople, Mount Athos, Vatopedi, Hilandar, Serbia, and this capital city. That thread is not merely historical. It is prayerful. It is maternal. It is grace-filled. It bears witness that the Church lives conciliarity, that holy relics journey through the centuries, that love never ceases, and that the Theotokos does not abandon those who flee with faith to Her maternal intercession.
 
– It is especially precious that in these days the ties between the Serbian people and Vatopedi are once again being illumined. In that sacred monastery the young Rastko Nemanjić, later Saint Sava, began his monastic path. There, together with his father, the Venerable Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, he incorporated his life into the Athonite Tradition, so that from that spiritual hearth Hilandar might later shine forth, and from Hilandar the stem of Saint Sava spread throughout our people. Therefore, Vatopedi is for us more than a renowned monastery. It is one of the spiritual vestibules of our ecclesiastical birth. This bond was preserved not only by monks and ascetics. It was preserved by rulers, ktetors, scribes, iconographers, translators, pilgrims, clergy, and the faithful people. From Saint Sava and Saint Simeon, through Serbian emperors, despots, and noblemen, to Holy Prince Lazar, who according to venerable tradition donated holy relics to Vatopedi, among them a portion of the Honorable Cincture, one and the same spiritual sentiment is recognized: that only what is offered to God is truly preserved. Saint John Chrysostom, in harmony with the Apostles and all the Saints, teaches that love is the root and mother of all good things. Here that love became ktetorship, prayer, chrysobull, divine worship, architecture, translation, iconography, and the brotherly embrace of two Orthodox peoples – proclaimed Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije and stated:
 
– Therefore, it is important that this symposium not be understood merely as an academic gathering, however precious and necessary scholarly labor may be. It is, at the same time, a ministry of memory. It is a grateful reading of the signs that God has left in history. When we speak about Saint Sava and Vatopedi, about the katholikon of Vatopedi and Serbian Raška shrines, about the charters of Serbian rulers, about the liturgical shaping of our relations, about monastic rights and privileges, about language and lexicography, we are not merely collecting data. We are once again recognizing how faith becomes incarnate in culture, how culture receives its soul in the Liturgy, and how a people remain alive when they remember the name of God.
 
– Today, when contemporary man is often distracted, weary, and spiritually weakened, holy relics return us to what is essential. They return us to prayer. They return us to repentance. They return us to love. They return us to one another. The arrival of the Cincture of the Most Holy Theotokos in Belgrade, during the days of the Savior’s Day procession, is a call to offer our city, our homes, our families, and our hearts to Christ. It is a call not to remain only at the level of outward reception, but inwardly to prepare a place for the grace of God. Therefore, we give thanks to the Very Reverend Hegumen Ephraim and the honorable brotherhood of the Vatopedi Monastery for their love, trust, and blessing. We also thank the esteemed Minister Mr. Popović and the Government of the Republic of Serbia for their wholehearted assistance and support in ensuring that the Cincture of the Theotokos safely arrived in Belgrade, and especially for organizing this important scholarly gathering. We likewise thank the participants of this gathering, the organizers, scholarly and ecclesiastical laborers, and all those who through their knowledge, love, and prayer contributed to presenting these themes worthily before the face of the Church and the people of God. May this gathering strengthen faith, increase love, deepen brotherly relations, and renew the memory of Saint Sava. May the Most Holy Theotokos, through Her Honorable Cincture, shelter us, console us, and lead us to Her Son. May the Lord teach us to receive everything we have as a gift, and to offer everything we are as thanksgiving. And may the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit be glorified in all things, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen – concluded His Holiness Patriarch kyr Porfirije.