His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije presided over the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy and the solemn ceremony of ordination of the elected and designated Highly-Dignified Archimandrite Nikon as Bishop of Jenopolje, Vicar of the Serbian Patriarch, on 1 September 2024, at the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade.

Concelebrating with His Holiness the Patriarch were Their Eminences Metropolitans: Irinej of Bačka, Dositej of Scandinavia, Pahomije of Vranje, Jovan of Šumadija, Ignatije of Braničevo, Atanasije of Mileševa, Fotije of Zvornik-Tuzla, Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral, Teodosije of Raška-Prizren, Arsenije of Niš, Nikodim of Dalmatia; and Their Graces Bishops: Gerasim of Upper Karlovac, Heruvim of Osečko Polje and Baranja, Isihije of Valjevo, Jerotej of Šabac, Justin of Paris and Western Europe, Metodije of Budimlje-Nikšić, Nektarije of Jegar – the elected Bishop of London and of Great Britain and Ireland, Damaskin of Mohač, Sava of Marča, Dositej of Lipljan, Petar of Toplica, and retired Bishop Georgije of Canada.

Addressing a paternal instruction to the new Hierarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije emphasized:

– Brethren Hierarchs, Your Eminences and Your Graces, honorable fathers, monks and nuns, brothers and sisters, dear Bishop Nikon,

We have had the blessing to serve the Holy Liturgy, to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, and to show that we are indeed a community of the faithful, the Body of Christ, and thus to bear witness to this, but also to foretaste the mystery of the Heavenly Kingdom, precisely because the Holy Liturgy is the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven in history and, at the same time, an anticipation and participation, that is, a foretaste of our participation in that same mystery. Everything that happens in the Church, which is related to the essence of our life, happens in the Holy Liturgy.

Thus, today we had the ordination of a new bishop, Bishop Nikon, knowing that the Liturgy is what has been given to us by the Lord, and that through the Liturgy, He is our Savior here and now, and unto the ages of ages. Therefore, when we speak of the bishop in such a context, we know that it is a mystery entrusted by the Lord Christ Himself, that the Bishop is the successor of the apostles. The Lord has given us that the Church continues and that she is as a tradition being bestowed upon every generation throughout all ages. For this reason, the Apostle Paul, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, in chapters 11 and 15, speaks of tradition, emphasizing that what he, as an apostle, received, he also delivers; and the bishop, as the successor of the apostles, must deliver what he has received, not relying upon his private, individual, free, or personal qualities, whether it is about a thought, an idea, intelligence, or knowledge. The Lord Himself said: Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), which the Apostle Paul understood and explained as the words Christ spoke to the apostles. What he received, but also passed on, the Apostle Paul says in chapter 15 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians: The Crucified and Risen Christ, Ascended into heaven – that is what the bishop receives. He receives the mystery of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven, the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, which must be delivered regardless of the place. Additionally, in chapter 11 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says: I received what I also delivered to you – the mystery of the Eucharist, remembering the night when Christ was handed over to suffering, and when He performed the Holy Eucharist as the mystery of the Church with the words: Take, eat; this is My Body and Drink from it, all of you; this is My Blood (Matthew 26:26-28). The bishop is the one who transmits the mystery of the faith, having received the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven by serving the Holy Liturgy, all, of course, through fasting and prayer, as we heard in today’s Gospel.

Therefore, dear Bishop, by choosing you, the Holy Assembly of Bishops and the gathered brethren Hierarchs pray that what you have received, just as we as Bishops have received, you deliver to the people of God and to God. We pray that your word may be the word of Christ, the word of the Church, not a private opinion, not following the principle do what your heart desires, because if the heart has not been transformed, if it has not undergone catharsis, if it has not fasted, prayed, and repented, if it has not wept, if it has not bathed in the tears of repentance, then it cannot make the right decision. Only when we undergo catharsis by the grace of the Holy Spirit can we distinguish good from evil, and then our word, thought, and action can be ecclesial, and then we are not important; the Lord and our neighbor are. The Assembly and the gathered fathers pray that you always keep this in mind and that God gives you the strength to deliver what you have received, to offer it back to God as a gift and to those around you. And I, on behalf of the Assembly, hand you the scepter as a symbol of episcopal service with the words: Receive this scepter to shepherd the flock of Christ entrusted to you. May it be a support and strength to the obedient, and for the disobedient and unruly, direct them with rebuke and gentle nurturing in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Axios!