Bishops Atanasije and Teodosije serve in Končul Monastery, visit North Kosovo

The Administrator of the Diocese of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, Bishop Atanasije today served Holy Liturgy in Končul Monastery, also known as the “Nikoljača Church”, with the concelebration of Vicar Bishop Teodosije, five priests and two deacons. The Končul sisters with their abbess, Mother Minodora, sang at the Holy Liturgy together with the sisters of Gradac Monastery (Diocese of Žiča), who arrived with their abbess, Mother Efimija and hieromonk Vitalije. Also at the Liturgy was the former abbess of Končul Monastery, Mother Katarina, who has done much to restore Končul Monastery, gather a young sisterhood and build a new residence. Also taking part in the Liturgy were about ten faithful who regularly come to the monastery and three children.

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Audio of the Sermon of Bishop Atanasije in the Koncul church (in Serbian) 15 Мb

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Bishop Atanasije's sermon on the Fear of God (in Serbian) – 5 Mb

During the Liturgy, where all the sisters and faithful took communion, Bishop Atanasije delivered a homily on assembly, community and the Church as a community of love. He also spoke about the four Witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ celebrated in this holy shrine: the Holy Apostle Thomas, the Holy Priest-Martyr Antipas of Pergamum (a city from the Book of Revelation), St. Nicholas of Myra, the patron of the sacred family of Končul, and Holy Archbishop Danilo II of Serbia (1270-1337), who served King Milutin and upon deciding to devote himself to monastic life, fled to Končul, where he became a monk. St. Danilo II soon became hegumen of Hilandar (Chilandar) Monastery and is remembered for defending that monastery from Catalan mercenaries. He was then appointed Bishop of Hum (in present-day Herzegovina), and then Bishop of Banjska. Finally, in 1324 he became the Serbian Archbishop. St. Danilo II is the famous writer of one of the most important works of Serbian medieval literature, The Lives of Serbian Kings and Archbishops. His holy relics rest in a beautiful marble tomb in his endowment, the Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos in Peć.

After the service and conversation in the monastery guest room, monastery administrator Mother Minodora and her sisters prepared lunch for all present.

Bishops Atanasije and Teodosije and the priests then visited the foundations of the churches in the villages of Kutnje and Jošanica (Leposavić municipality), which the residents of these villages want to restore but have not yet received the blessing to do so. Then they also visited the church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Vuča, which is still under construction. In all these locations the Bishops and priests were welcomed by several dozen faithful with children. The villages of Jošanica and Vuča are large Serbian villages in Leposavić municipality and full of youth and children because Serbs have not moved away from here. These Serbian villages are in a far more favorable position than the Serbian villages south of Mitrovica where, despite a few compact Serbian regions, there are villages in the enclaves that are totally surrounded by the ethnic Albanian majority of the population. Among them, Serb returnees in the Metohija enclaves are in a particularly difficult and constrained position and surroundings; Bishop Atanasije visited them yesterday and brought them humanitarian aid.

VISITING VILLAGES OF NORTH KOSOVO – LEPOSAVIĆ MUNICIPALITY