PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE: HUMILITY IS THE ONLY TRUE PATH

BELGRADE, JULY 7 /SRNA/ – St. John the Baptist is an example of humility, which is the only true path and should be the foundation of Christian life, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije has said today as he celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist in the Petlovo Brdo neighborhood of Belgrade on the feast of the saint's birth.

"St. John the Baptist said, `He must increase, but I must decrease.` This is the example of humility. Only when our own `I` diminishes does the Lord Jesus Christ grow within us. When Christ becomes the center of a person`s life, everything acquires its true meaning, while pride and selfishness deprive a person of peace, joy and the true beauty of life," the Serbian Patriarch said.

Patriarch Porfirije said people should rejoice because they are together, walking the path of repentance, humility and joy, so that Christ may increase within them while the ego diminishes, Hram TV reported.

"Let us make humility the foundation of our lives," the Serbian Patriarch said.

His Holiness stressed that the greatest blessing is for Christians to gather at the Divine Liturgy, thereby affirming that they are one body in Christ.

"The greatest gift is to look upon one another with joy because we are called to be one with God and with one another," Patriarch Porfirije said, adding that every person should dedicate their gifts to God and place them in the service of their loved ones.

Speaking about the feast, His Holiness noted that the births of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and St. John the Baptist are inseparably linked.

"God acts above the laws of nature. Where God wills, the natural order is overcome and God`s works are always greater than human logic and limited reason," the Serbian Patriarch said.

The church`s rector, Protopresbyter Predrag Todorović, thanked the Patriarch for his visit on behalf of the clergy and faithful and presented him with an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Great Fast, created by the nuns of the Žiča Monastery.

The Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful today celebrate the Nativity of St. John the Forerunner, known as Ivanjdan, one of the three major feast days dedicated to the saint whose name is associated with the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan and the beginning of Christian preaching.