SOC: The Church offers a unique tool for eternal life – Holy Communion
Patriarch Irinej of Serbia. Photo: rusk.ru
The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in its communiqué due to the spread of coronavirus, said that “the Church has always offered its faithful a unique tool for immortality – the Holy Communion”, the Orthodox Times website reports.
The Holy Synod expressed “our deepest gratitude and reverence for the day and night efforts in the prevention and suppression of the epidemic and calls upon them God’s blessing”.
“Having respect for the importance and achievements of medicine that is considered a great gift of God and a great human endeavor, the Church offers its faithful a unique remedy for immortality, the Holy Communion, as well as the blessing of her holy Sacraments and of her entire sacramental treasury,” the communiqué says.
The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church calls upon all the faithful of our Church “for responsibility and sobriety in this situation and urges them not to neglect the instructions of the medical services and state authorities and not to neglect or ignore the prescribed preventive measures – in one word, not to endanger themselves or the others.”
In addition, the synodals warned believers against the spread of panic and rumors.
The Serbian Church emphasized that “the Holy Synod emphasizes that the Lord is our Hope and our Savior in every distress, and therefore we should multiply our sincere prayers for the sick, and especially for the doctors and other medical staff, who selflessly do all they can, often exposing themselves to the dangers, which is also a form of worship and selfless service to the human race.”
“It is up to us as Christians and human beings to do all that is right for us, believing and knowing from the Holy Scriptures that everything is possible for God, even overcoming natural laws and unnatural processes,” says the communiqué of the Synod of the Serbian Church.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Montenegro is the only country in Europe where there are no affected with coronavirus.
Read also
Serbian Patriarch offers condolences over murder of Sviatohirsk Lavra monk
The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church called Sviatohirsk Lavra a refuge for the displaced and urged that the monk’s violent death not be turned into anyone’s weapon.
“Never seen before”: Israel reports record number of Hasidim in Uman
According to an Israeli police representative, 52,000 pilgrims are currently in Uman – 10,000 more than last year. The city itself has a population of about 75,000.
UOC faithful hold prayer vigil outside Lavra for more than 1,000 days
For three and a half years, Orthodox Christians have continued praying for peace and for the preservation of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Zelensky congratulates Jews on Rosh Hashanah
Volodymyr Zelensky wished Jews peace and the triumph of good over evil.
Kyiv Theological Academy publishes book on Orthodoxy in 17th-century Ukraine
With the blessing of the UOC Primate, the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary has published a textbook marking the 430th anniversary of the birth of St. Petro Mohyla.
45,000 Hasidic pilgrims arrive in Uman
Around 45,000 Hasidic pilgrims have already arrived in Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah.