Patriarch Porfirije announces extension of Theotokos’ Belt’s stay in Serbia
The primate and the abbot of Vatopedi responded to the flow of thousands of faithful by allowing the Athonite shrine to remain in Belgrade until June 6.
The primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church announced the decision to keep the reliquary in the Church of Saint Sava for another week. Initially, the Athonite monks were expected to take the shrine away on Monday of the Holy Spirit, June 1, but the unprecedented influx of pilgrims forced a change of plans. This was reported by the Orthodoxia News Agency.
The announcement was made in the cathedral crypt during an address by Archimandrite Ephraim, abbot of Vatopedi Monastery. “I have good news for you from our elder,” Patriarch Porfirije told the faithful. “Because you show such love for the Most Holy Virgin and spare no effort, standing for hours in the sun to venerate Her shrine, the Holy Belt will remain in Belgrade until Friday.”
The country’s capital has effectively been “flooded” with thousands of people arriving around the clock from all regions and neighboring states. Eyewitnesses have recorded moving scenes: young couples with children in their arms standing in queues after midnight, hoping to touch the only surviving object from the earthly life of the Mother of God. The lines to the shrine do not thin out even at night, and the waiting time often exceeds six or seven hours.
The shrine arrived in Belgrade on May 20, 2026. It was solemnly received by Church hierarchs and the country’s top leadership, including President Aleksandar Vučić. A particularly significant event of the visit was the procession on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, which, for the first time in modern history, took place under the blessing of the Athonite reliquary, inscribing a “golden page” in the city’s chronicle.
