Belgrade, July 4, 2018
Photo: foma.ru The Russian Orthodox Church is gearing up to commemorate the centenary of the martyrdom of the last royal family, with various events, processions, and holy Divine services taking place throughout the country, and especially in Ekaterinburg, where the Royal Martyrs were brutally slain on July 17, 1918.
The fraternal Serbian Orthodox Church has also announced that it will commemorate the holy Royal Martyrs with a Divine Liturgy and procession in Belgrade, to be headed by His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, reports RIA-Novosti.
“As part of the events marking the 100th anniversary of the killing of the holy Royal Passion-Bearers, a Divine Liturgy will be celebrated in the Russian Church of the All-Holy Trinity in Belgrade, and there will be a procession in the center of the Serbian capital with the participation of the primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church His Holiness Irinej,” a source within the Church told RIA-Novosti.
The procession will move from the Holy Trinity Church after the Divine Liturgy to the Tsar Nicholas II monument in the center of Belgrade. Serbian clergymen, politicians, and public figures will lay wreaths at the monument in honor of the saint’s martyric podvig.
The monument was opened by the Serbian and Russian patriarchs on September 13, 2014, and is the first monument to Tsar Nicholas in Europe.
“The role that Tsar Nichols II played in saving Serbia and Europe as a whole is too great to describe it in just a couple of words. He sacrificed his crown, his reign and his life to save Serbia and to save Europe,” Pat. Kirill said at the festive opening.
“Nicholas II was remembered by the people of Serbia even when his name could not be said out loud in Russia. What was being said about him was nasty, or nothing was said about him at all,” the Russian patriarch added.
Earlier it was reported that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill will visit Ekaterinburg from July 14 to 17 for the centenary celebrations. The patriarch will take part in the all-night procession and Divine Liturgy on the commemoration day of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, and will also lead a meeting of the Holy Synod and consecrate a new church in honor of the Royal Passion-Bearers.
Follow us on Facebook!
