Podgorica, Montenegro, February 24, 2026
Photo: mitropolija.com
The feast of St. Symeon the Myrrh-Gusher, patron of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Metropolis of Montenegro and the Littoral, was festively celebrated with a Hierarchical Liturgy and procession in Podgorica on February 21.
The Liturgy at the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection of Christ was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro together with four fellow hierarchs from the Serbian Orthodox Church and His Grace Bishop Marko of Delčevo and Kamenica from the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Metropolis reports.
The hierarchs were joined by a great number of clergy, monastics, and faithful.
Following the reading of the Gospel, Bp. Marko delivered a homily, emphasizing that St. Symeon was not only a ruler and statesman but a man of deep and steadfast faith. He noted that he wasn’t the only ruler to leave behind an earthly kingdom, but that he stands apart in having “loved a humble monastic cell more than a royal palace.” This humility—a father becoming a spiritual son, a ruler becoming a monk—is what elevates him among the saints, the Macedonian hierarch said.
Drawing on the Beatitudes, the bishop stated that we are “poor in spirit without God, and rich with God,” and that God’s justice is love, mercy, and forgiveness, shown supremely on the Cross of Christ in self-sacrificing love.
Photo: spc.rs
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, before the departure of the procession, Met. Joanikije addressed those gathered, recalling that St. Symeon was a great warrior and statesman but above all a man of inexhaustible faith—not without sin, as no ruler is, but one who knew how to repent, to shed tears, and to overcome his weaknesses through virtue.
Following the service, the hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and several thousand faithful, including parents and children, set out on the traditional cross procession from the Cathedral Church to Nemanja’s City, where the festal slava bread was blessed.
In another addres, Met. Joanikije said that every procession carries a deeper meaning, as a continuation of the first procession on Palm Sunday in Jerusalem and a symbol of the journey toward the Heavenly City, “the eternal Jerusalem who is the mother of us all.”
He described this path as the way of Christ—the way of St. Symeon and St. Sava, St. Basil of Ostrog and St. Peter of Cetinje—a path of love, sacrifice, and conciliarity. The Metropolitan also noted that the feast of St. Theodore Stratelates is celebrated on the same day, and blessed the gathered faithful with a portion of his relics kept in the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection of Christ.
Follow OrthoChristian on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe and Gab!
