Kratovo, North Macedonia, February 27, 2024
Photo: liturgija.mk
Hierarchs of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church concelebrated in the city of Kratovo in northeastern North Macedonia this week.
At the invitation of His Eminence Metropolitan Gregory of Kumanovo and Osogovo of the Macedonian Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Jacob of Dorostol of the Bulgarian Church joined in the local celebration of the feast of St. George of Kratovo, a 16th-century New Martyr of the Turkish Yoke, in his hometown, reports the Macedonian Church’s liturgija.mk.
Photo: liturgija.mk
The bishops celebrated Vespers together on Saturday night, February 24, and the Divine Liturgy the next morning, together with the Macedonian hierarchs Metropolitan Hilarion of Bregalnica and Bishop Nikola of Velichki.
Before the start of the Liturgy, Met. Jacob presented a piece of the holy relics of St. George to the Church of St. George in Kratovo and the Kumanovo Diocese. The relics were received by Met. Gregory and placed in the church for the veneration of the faithful.
Following the service, the slava bread was consecrated in the town square.
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St. George, a silversmith by trade, hailed from the city of Kratovo. George was 18 when the Turks tried to convert him to Islam, but “George remained as firm as a diamond in his faith,” writes the Church of St. George of Kratovo in Farmington Mills, Michigan. He was brutally tortured by the Turks and finally burned at the stake. “He suffered for the beautiful faith of Christ on February 11/24, 1515 A.D. in Sofia, Bulgaria, during the reign of Sultan Selim and was glorified with unfading glory in the Heavens.”
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