Baošići, Montenegro, August 26, 2025
mitropolija.com
A hierarchical Divine Liturgy was held at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Baošići on August 24, celebrating the glorification of St. Kiril the Confessor of Dalmatia and Boka, who was canonized by the Serbian Council of Bishops in May.
The service was led by His Eminence Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral, together with His Eminence Metropolitan Lukijan of Buda and Timișoara. They were joined by numerous clergy including archimandrites, archpriests, priests, and deacons from various dioceses, reports the Metropolis of Montenegro.
The relics of this newly glorified saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church rest in the Bezdin Monastery in the Diocese of Timișoara, Romania. With the blessing of Met. Lukijan, a portion of the holy relics of St. Kiril was brought as a gift to the Church of St. Nicholas in Baošići—the very church where St. Kiril was baptized and spiritually nourished during his childhood.
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Following the Liturgy, Met. Joanikije addressed the faithful, noting that through God’s providence, St. Kiril has returned to his homeland after his earthly life as a saint, “clothed with power from on high.”
“He ended his life co-crucified with his Lord Jesus Christ, preserving the holy Orthodox faith, always ready to sacrifice his life for his faith and his homeland. And behold, the Lord has returned him to us with great glory, and we receive him with great joy here in his birthplace,” Met. Joanikije said.
He also noted that this region has been blessed with two recently canonized saints—St. Kiril, who traveled through Dalmatia to Bezdin, and St. Sebastian Dabović from nearby, who was recently canonized and became an enlightener of the American continent after traveling to California.
Met. Lukijan thanked the hosts for the invitation and expressed his gladness at visiting St. Kiril’s homeland. Speaking about the saint’s life, he described it as “full of thorns” and noted that St. Kiril showed both humanity and heroism in defending authentic Orthodox Christianity against great powers, spending more time in prison than in freedom during his earthly life.
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“He reached Bezdin, far from his homeland. He remained there, again on guard as a defender of Orthodoxy, because Orthodoxy has somehow always been in danger,” Met. Lukijan said. He added that while in St. Kiril’s time the threats came through physical force and weapons, today Christianity faces dangers both from outside and from within.
At the conclusion of the celebration, the local church community of Baošići presented gifts to Met. Lukijan as a sign of gratitude for his visit and the precious gift of the saint’s relics.
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