Time in Belgrade

"In the footsteps of St. Nikolai Velimirovic" - this is the name given to this Serbian Orthodox/Anglican joint pilgrimage to holy places in Serbia and Montenegro.  My fellow pilgrims on this trip are mostly Serbian Orthodox, but there are a half dozen of us Episcopalians and even a Universalist!  Most of both groups hail from New York City.  St. Nikolai was a modern day saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a friend of Anglicans.  In fact, he was known to have said that (at least in his lifetime) he didn't see any essential articles of faith that divided Anglican from Serbian Orthodox, and that the only thing lacking was a true union of hearts - and Nikolai believed this was possible.  He became the first non-Anglican to preach in St. Paul's London - quite an honor.

St. Nikolai was a bishop in Zitscha and Ocrid, and was imprisoned in Dachau during WWII, where he offered great comfort to his fellow prisoners, identifying the ways in which he found evidence of God, even at Dachau.  He was included in the prisoners liberated from concentration camps by American troops in 1945, and was brought to the US by the troops.  He died in the US in 1956, and his remains were taken to his birthplace in Lelich, a monastery he had built in his hometown before WWII.  He was sainted in 2003.  This pilgrimage will take us to many of the places St. Nikolai lived  or served or visited, giving us time to reflect on his life's work and strengthen the bonds of friendship between Anglican and Orthodox along the way...

Sunday morning we went to the cathedral in Belgrade for church.   I found it disconcerting to be a half hour late for church, but so it is in this culture.  As this was my first time attending an orthodox service, I realized that half hour was blessed relief - Orthodox services are quite long and everyone stands...women on the left and men on the right.  I was captivated by the music of the choir and the chanting of the priests - absolutely beautiful and transporting!

In the hotel lobby before walking to church

On the walk through town, headed to the cathedral

After church a rainstorm delayed our walking tour of the city, so we sat in a cafe and then back in the cathedral to wait it out.  Here are some photos I took while we waited.

Our three Episcopal priests on pilgrimage.

Turkish coffee - yum!

Inside the cathedral

After the rain stopped, we made a visit to St. Sava, a new Serbian Orthodox temple named for the first Serbian archbishop, that's still under construction, but once completed it will be the largest in existence.

We had a late lunch at a floating restaurant on a boat on the Danube, and then visited Belgrade Fortress, which contains old Roman walls known to be the outermost edge of the Roman Empire.  There are two chapels situated within the fortress which we also visited.   The first chapel - St. Petka - contains a well with healing waters.   We met the priest there, Vladimir, who is also a professor in the school of theology in Belgrade and a former classmate of Fr. Djokan, the priest in St. Sava Cathedral in NYC and leader for our pilgrimage.  Fr. Vladimir was a most gracious host, welcoming us, telling us about the history of the chapel, and sharing with us his own ecumenical work and his particular like of Anglicans.  He gave us his email and phone number so that we could contact him on Saturday when we return to Belgrade.

Belgrade Fortress from a distance

Ljuba, our guide (and fantastic art historian)

St. Petka

We eventually gathered at 8:30 for dinner at the hotel, and then Shelley and I promptly returned to our room for bed at a decent hour - we have to be on the bus, breakfast eaten and ready to go with luggage in hand at 7:30!