Lelić, Serbia, May 19, 2026
Met. Mitrofan venerating the relics of St. Nikolai. Photo: spc.rs
His Eminence Metropolitan Mitrofan of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Canada served at the Divine Liturgy celebrated at the relics of St. Nikolai (Velimirović) on Sunday, May 18, at Lelić Monastery in Serbia.
St. Nikolai, one of the great saints of America who served in the United States for many years before reposing at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania in 1956, is venerated throughout the Orthodox world.
The service was led by His Eminence Metropolitan Vasilije of Srem, with the prayerful participation of His Eminence Metropolitan Efrem of Banja Luka and Met. Mitrofan of Canada, along with numerous clergy and faithful, the Serbian Orthodox Church reports.
The Canadian Metropolitan recalled his participation in the transfer of St. Nikolai’s relics, describing the moment of uncovering the earthly remains of the Lelić Chrysostom as unforgettable.
Photo: spc.rs
“Holy people carried faith in the Resurrection of Christ, in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why they remain so great,” Met. Mitrofan stated. “Someone said long ago: First Sava, then Varnava, and I would dare to say: First Sava, then Nikolai. No one has accomplished so much revival in our people as Holy Father Nikolai of Lelić, of Ohrid, of Žiča, of All America and All Orthodoxy, as many of our fathers say.”
The Metropolitan called upon the faithful to venerate the saint’s relics “and to pray that he bring peace to our Serbian land, to our Serbia, which he sang much about and for which he wept much while he was in exile in America until his death in 1956.”
The Canadian hierarch, whose ministry has been connected to the United States, spoke of the sorrow felt by the Serbian diaspora when St. Nikolai’s relics were transferred to Serbia. “They said they were left orphaned,” he recalled, “but I comforted them: He didn’t leave—his trace remains in the monastery cared for by St. Mardarije of Libertyville, who together with St. Nikolai prays for all the Serbian people.”
Photo: spc.rs
Following the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitans Vasilije, Efrem, and Mitrofan visited the House of St. Nikolai, which was consecrated this year on the saint’s feast day by His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia. Archimandrite Georgije, abbot of Lelić Monastery, hosted the hierarchs, and Metropolitan Efrem presented an icon as a gift of thanksgiving.
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