On June 3, 2021, on the commemoration day of the Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen, His Holiness Porfirije, Patriarch of Serbia, officiated the Divine Liturgy in the church dedicated to the saints of the Vozdovac district, Belgrade. The retired Bishop Georgije and the elected Bishop Sava of Marca concelebrated with the Patriarch, reports the website of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“Today we celebrate the equal-to-the-apostles Constantine and Helen, mother and son, those who made the Christian faith not only stop being persecuted but that the Christian faith gets space, gets a place for its voice to be heard and for its voice to reach every soul, that is. . that her voice reaches everyone who is created in the image and likeness of God “, said Patriarch Porfirije.
“Our times are not much different from those that were before Constantine. The Church of Christ lives, but there are still similar, same, and sometimes worse forces than the ones in the time of Constantine and Helen, which would not only abolish the space of the voice of the Gospel, the voice of Christ, but would certainly, together with many Christ-haters and to the emperors of Rome to wipe the Cross of Christ from the face of the earth “, the Patriarch pointed out.
“The forces of this world know, as the experience of our Church says, that temptations come from the left and from the right. Temptations come from the left when the enemy comes openly and attacks us. On the other hand, temptations on the right come in the form of virtue. By presenting one deed as a virtue, they bring us into the trap of pride that is the source of all evil. So do today’s enemies, most often coming from the right. Most often, they talk about good, about virtue, and they also have humanitarian activities. They address us as if we do not have not only the experience and tradition of our people, but above all the experience of the saints from our people, the experience of the Church. “In our nation, but also in all nations, that experience is bigger and stronger, and most importantly, it is the only saving thing,” the Patriarch said.
