HOMILIES

Homily by Metropolitan of Canada Dr. Mitrofan

on the Slava of the Saint Arsenije Sremac Church in Whitby

November 9, 2025

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Very Reverend and Reverend fathers, dear brothers and sisters. 

I am very happy that I was able to share this great joy with you today. To celebrate with you your holy representative, Saint Arsenije, the second Archbishop of Serbia or, as he is already called, Saint Arsenije of Srem. Also, that I was able to celebrate this holy service, to cut the Slava kolach and to rejoice together with you because every Liturgy, dear brothers and sisters, is joy. Every Liturgy is love. Every Liturgy is hope. Every Liturgy is a reminder of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, every Liturgy is a reminder of the eternal life that will come after our departure from this world. And all of this encourages us to think about ourselves and about our future life and how we have spent it.

As this story that our Lord Jesus Christ told about the rich man and Lazarus beautifully says today. He does not mention how the rich man got his wealth. Did he inherit it? Did he work and save? In any case, He does not criticize him for having that wealth. Perhaps he worked hard and was a wealthy man. But He certainly criticizes him for what will later be seen from the explanation that our Lord Jesus Christ gives and that the holy righteous also gave.

Namely, the Lord begins this story by saying that there was a rich man who, every day, dressed in different clothes, in silk and purple, rejoiced every day with his own. So, you see here that it is not a question of him rejoicing one day and stopping the next, but that he did so every day. At the same time, at the door of his house, there was a poor man named Lazarus, a poor man who had nothing, and who wanted some of the crumbs that were thrown from the master's table to come to him. And something else. They showed him more mercy – who? The dogs. For they came, because he was sick and wounded, and licked his wounds and thus alleviated his pain. But everything comes to an end. The joy also comes to an end for this rich man, and when he died, they buried him. Perhaps there were, dear brothers and sisters, great speeches about him that he was like this, that he was like that, and so on, but certainly there was nothing for poor Lazarus. They buried him who knows how. But, God's judgments are one and human judgments are another. And when, it says, Lazarus died, they carried him into Abraham's bosom. And when the rich man died, they buried him. So, there could have been speeches, and these are all human speeches. The main thing is what the Lord says and the main thing is what the Lord gives as a judgment. And he (the rich man) felt it when he entered that world – an unworthy world that is not suitable for us because it was not created for that – and he sees Lazarus in Abraham's bosom and prays to Abraham and says: Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, because I am tormented in this flame. And what does Abraham say to him? Remember that you received your good things in your lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things; now he is happy, and you are in torment. And he continues and says that: on the other side, between you and us, the world where you live and the world where we live, a great chasm has been fixed, and those who would cross over to one side or the other cannot, because their condition is determined for them. And what does he say? I beg you, father, send him for me, for my five brothers, whom I have, so that they also will not come to this place of torment. 

So, the righteous Abraham answers: they have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them. But, again, he insists and says: yes, they have Moses and the prophets, but it would be better if someone came from here and told them that he really was in the other world and then it would certainly be easier for them too. But Abraham answers and says: if they do not believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if someone rises from the dead. 

Saint John Chrysostom, interpreting this, says: you see now that the rich man recognizes Lazarus, but while he was alive, when he was at his door, he never remembered him. Nor did he look at him. Let alone greet him. Let alone say: do you need anything, brother? Nothing. And now suddenly he remembered. So, good deeds are done while alive. After death, it is difficult to do that. Only the grace of God can allow us to do that. 

But, what is most important, dear brothers and sisters, is this: that we, as Saint John Chrysostom says, do alms, love for everyone, because, he says, when we are merciful, we are most worthy of whom? Our heavenly Father. Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful – says the Lord in the Gospel. And, Saint John Chrysostom, further says that alms are so great that they pass by the moon, pass by the stars, pass by the sun and rise before the throne of God. And there is nothing that can prevent it. For the One who receives it is the One who has done the most mercy for us, having been born for us, living for us and, having suffered, been crucified, buried and risen for us, our Lord and God Jesus Christ. 

May this news touch each of us, as much as we can, in our hearts. And may we begin to help whoever we can.

I will never forget the images that you must have also seen when they happened in the Middle East, between Israel and the Arabs in Gaza, those orphaned children. I will not say who is to blame, I will not say who should bear all the responsibility for that, but I only know that the greatest sufferers, the most tormented, the greatest martyrs in all of that, who were they? Children. Children, orphans, who, as our people say, did not know either what is good or what is evil. But let us leave it to God's judgment, let the Lord judge and He will certainly judge everyone fairly.

May the merciful God and Saint Arsenije of Serbia, who preached almsgiving, grant us mercy in our hearts at least as much as He gave to the widow who gave two mites and whom the Lord praised and said gave the most of all. May we also be merciful as our holy ancestors were. Saint Sava, Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Bearer, Saint Arsenije, Saint Maksim, Saint Prince Milutin, Saint Tsar Uros and many others from our stock, because by this they showed that they loved their Church, that they loved Christ, that they loved His Gospel, that they loved every person, regardless of who they are and what they are. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. Happy Slava to you and may God bless you for many years. Amen.

Homily by Patriarch Irinej of Serbia

on the eve of the feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs

February 11, 2016

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Very Reverend and Reverend fathers, dear brothers and sisters.

Thank you for such wonderful information about these people, about this temple, about the life that takes place at this temple – our Serbian Orthodox temple. Just as they are proud of you who are their shepherd, so are you proud of them who preserve their Orthodox faith, their Serbian name and our wonderful customs. First of all, brothers and sisters, may you have a happy eve of the great holiday. Tomorrow is the feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs, the great hierarchs of our Church – Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint John Chrysostom. These three personalities made the fourth century of Christianity the golden age of Christianity. Because they worked during that time of particularly difficult and terrible persecution that the Church endured for the first three centuries. Until Emperor Constantine came, and I especially emphasize that great and holy name because he was born in the city where I was a bishop for thirty-four years – the city of Nis. This is our Nislija, we celebrated the Edict of Milan a few years ago, which, thanks to him, born in Nis, declared the freedom of Christianity to all of Christianity, that is, to the people of the Roman Empire of that time. And since then, to this day, more or less that freedom exists and lives in the people and the people with it, thanking the great Emperor Constantine. At that time, there lived three great saints who laid the foundation of Christ's Church. Saint Basil was a great organizer, a man of high culture who completed all the sciences that existed at that time. Then Saint Gregory the Theologian, also a great theological mind, who explained many of the secrets of our faith not only to his time, but that explanation also serves us today to understand and comprehend our holy Orthodox faith. And finally, Saint John Chrysostom, as his very name suggests – Chrysostom – was a man with a golden mouth. He interpreted the Holy Gospel and the Holy Fathers who dealt with researching him say that, if it were not for John Chrysostom, Christ would have had to come again to explain His teaching. And he explained that work of Christ, the teaching of Christ, to the people and that is why he is called the one with the golden mouth. So, the great luminaries of our faith. And among them is Saint Arsenije of Srem, who did not belong to that time but was very significant for our Serbian history. He is the successor of Saint Sava. Saint Sava wisely – Nemanjicly wisely – wanted to retire from the throne of the Serbian Archbishop before his time because he wanted to see that the one who would inherit his work would follow his teachings and so that he could follow during his lifetime how it would develop further. He chose him – Saint Arsenije who was born in Srem, although at that time Srem was a broader term and he came from outside of today's Sabac as that was also Srem. So, he was born from those areas. A wonderful man. He was a monk in Zica, where he spiritually rose and where Saint Sava chose him. He handed over the throne of the Serbian Church to him and, as we know, he went to Jerusalem, Palestine, and other holy places of the East to visit, and during that time the Church was led by Saint Arsenije Sremac, who was the first to build one of the three temples of today's Pec Patriarchate. He built the central part of the temple dedicated to the Holy Apostles. Later, two more temples were built, one next to the other, but he laid the foundation and, thank God, to this day the Pec Patriarchate exists, the seat of the Serbian archbishops and bishops, the foundation of which was laid by Saint Arsenije Sremac, and this temple dedicated to him is wonderful and we saw today this icon that we consecrated today is dedicated to this great and wonderful saint. This is in connection with tomorrow's feast and in connection with our gathering tonight.

It is truly wonderful to see you in this temple. Our wonderful temple, which is adapted to an Orthodox temple and is no less than our great temples in our country because it is consecrated and dedicated to God by the grace of God. In which, thank God, you gather and it is truly wonderful to see you tonight on the eve of the holiday. Our people used to do this en masse. They still do it today. Evening services are being renewed in Belgrade and other regions. Thank God. And what makes us especially happy is that we see more and more of our youth – good, Christian, Orthodox youth – in our temples and that is what gives us strength, what gives us joy and hope that we will survive in this, as Desanka Maksimovic says, windy Balkan region. Thanks to our Church, thanks to our faith, our wonderful Christian customs. That is what sustained our people, it sustains us there, it will sustain you here too, even though you are far away from your roots, from your birthplaces where many were born. But, if we are attached with heart and soul to those holy lands and holy regions, then we will remain to preserve and we will be aware that we know who we are, what we are – our origins, our great and glorious history, a truly suffering history, but great and glorious and thanks to it, here we are to this day. Our people have survived both difficult Scylla and difficult Charybdis in their history, but always with hope in the Lord, with hope in Saint Sava and other holy saints of God. And today, when they are taking Kosovo and Metohija away from us, I firmly hope that they cannot take it away from us because not only are we protecting and fighting for Kosovo and Metohija there, our saints are fighting for Kosovo and Metohija. Saint Sava, Saint Arsenije – one of the first archbishops of Pec, Saint King Stefan of Decani who rests with his entire body in his monastery, guarding the sanctuary of Decani and all of Kosovo and Metohija as a holy Serbian land, a land that is soaked with the blood of our ancestors defending and protecting Kosovo and Metohija. There are numerous relics of saints there. Every foot of the land of Kosovo and Metohija is soaked with Serbian blood, tears and prayers, and this is what gives us hope and strength that our Lord will not allow Kosovo to fall away from us. I feel as if I am in Belgrade in this holy temple with you. As if I am in Nis where I spent a long time and many years, as if I am also in Prizren where I spent a lot of time as a professor at the Prizren Theological Seminary. That is how I feel here with many of my acquaintances and countrymen and with you who understand and speak the Serbian language and who are gathered around our holy Church. All our ancestors gathered around her. They were with her in good times, and the Church was with them in bad times, but always with the hope that the Lord would not abandon us, as, thank God, He has not abandoned us. In addition to the great suffering and ups and downs that our people have been through and are going through. Here is a lesson for all of us and for you here and for us who have remained where our country and your country are with God, with its Church, with its wonderful customs – when we are with God, then let us know that we are in safe hands and that the Lord will not abandon us. Just as He did not abandon our ancestors, He will not abandon us either. When Patriarch Pavle was once asked: will God help our people? He wisely answered: He will, if He has someone to help. Yes, if we are worthy of His help, His grace, His guidance, then, in the words of another apostle, let us leave all our worries, our problems to God. Of course, with our own effort and struggle, let's do what we can and should do. And what we can't do, let's leave to God and God will solve it in the best way.

I am glad to be here with you tonight. I had in mind visiting you last time, but time was limited, and, thank God, the opportunity has arisen now, and I am glad, and it would be a great mistake if I had missed visiting this temple and you. You, with the desire to see that your Church thinks of you. Yes, although you are not hundreds but thousands of kilometres away, you are still in the heart of our Serbian Church and the heart of our people, those in the Fatherland, and that together with them and with you here we make up one Serbian Orthodox people. And it is good that you are here, although, I would much rather you were where you were born to fill our holy land – a blessed and wonderful land, a rich land and a God-given land – but sometimes it is God's will that we be here to spread our name because we can also show the people with which we live, because many peoples live here, to show who we are, to show our culture, our behavior, our relationship with them, and that is an Orthodox, evangelical, Christian relationship that has always adorned us in our history and that should also adorn us in our relationships with other people. But before we show our relationship with other people, we must show our relationship with each other. You are small here, a small number, and you have no one closer than your people who speak the same language and belong to the same Church, the same cultural and spiritual heritage, so if there are any problems, sit down and come to an agreement and especially help each other. Let us follow the example of the Jews who help each other and thanks to that help they give to each other, here, for two thousand years they have been dispersed all over the world but today they exist. They preserve their faith but I must tell you that they also preserve their language. They speak English well not only here but everywhere they have been – in Germany, France and other places – they knew the language of the people where they lived but they spoke their own language at home and today there is no Jew who does not know their native language. That preserved them and that preserves them so let us learn a little from them so that we too cherish our language at home, especially with children because for the first few years children are tied to the home, to the family, to their parents. Let them learn the Serbian language there. Of course, let them also get to know the English language. It is a global language, an important language, and our children, both in Serbia and other Serbian places, learn English. It is a language that is understood throughout the world. But do not forget your language. That is my lesson to you, brothers and sisters, but above all, preserve your faith. Preserve your wonderful Orthodoxy. One Metropolitan of Belgrade, Mihailo, a great Serb, the Metropolitan of Belgrade, buried in the Cathedral Church in Belgrade, has written on his grave: love Orthodoxy, love Serbianness. That is his message to all of us today, especially to you who, by force of circumstances, have found yourself here. Do not forget your roots, the people to whom you belong, the history that is part of your and our lives, so that it may be cherished here in these areas. May the Lord bless you, you and your children, may He give you health but above all harmony and love. Bishop Nikolaj lived in these areas in America for a long time and at the end of his life he left behind one great message, one great prayer, with the words: God, multiply, unite and deify the Serbian people. So, may the Lord multiply, deify and unite us. Unfortunately, this discord has accompanied us throughout our history and we have suffered and suffered a lot, but that СССС on our coat of arms was not given by chance, but it was given to us to live together, to be in harmony, because how will we respect and love other people of other nations, other cultures, other skin colours if we do not do this towards each other. Without elementary school, one cannot enroll in high school or college. Therefore, the first school of life is to love those closest to us. Our brothers, relatives, friends, and through them to love and cherish other peoples. May you be blessed and God's blessing be upon all of you now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.