His Eminence Metropolitan Siluan visited Perth on the 6th of September arriving in the early evening hours, accompanied by Protodeacon Petar Mrakic. On September 7, vespers was served at Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church in the prayerful presence of clergy and faithful from the Perth Deanery.
At the conclusion of vespers, Metropolitan Siluan greeted all those gathered, expressing his joy for the opportunity to visit the faithful people of the city of Perth and Western Australia. His Eminence spoke about the importance of prayer in the life of Christians, and pointed out the need for hightened spiritual vigilance in these times full of temptations, challenges and spiritual dangers that seek to harm the flock of Christ.
The ‘spiritual wolf’ always has as one of his primary goals division, disruption of concord and the tearing of the ‘robe of Christ’. It is a spiritual trap and a great delusion to be “zealous” for the house of God in the absence of liturgical experience and Orthodox ascetic life. That is why we are all called to increase prayer and to be on spiritual guard, above all over our hearts and minds, to keep and protect what our Holy ancestors handed down to us from Christ Himself through the Holy Apostles, the Holy Fathers and Holy Ecumenical Councils as a direction and model of life.
To preserve unity among our flock and Serbian corpus. One is Christ, there is but one Church and one Saint Sava, and one Orthodox way taught by the Holy Nemanjici – one and indivisible! Father Goran Jovcic, the parish priest and church Rector, thanked His Eminence for his Archpastoral visit and his spiritual instruction, briefly addressing those gathered. After the service an agape meal was served at the parish hall.
The next day, on September 8, Metropolitan Siluan celebrated Divine Hierarchical Liturgy at Saint Sava’s Serbian Orthodox Church in Highgate. Protopresbyter Sasa Stojanovic, Rector of Saint Sava’s and Dean of the Perth Deanery along with fathers Aleksandar Trninic and Vasilije Stojanovic and Protodeacon Petar Mrakic concelebrated with His Eminence. In his sermon, Metropolitan Siluan reflecting on the Gospel reading, spoke about the importance and magnitude of forgiveness that leads us into the likeness of our Heavenly Father.
After the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence congratulated and praised Protopresbyter Sasa Stojanovic on his 20th anniversary since his ordination, wishing him much spiritual strength, faith and zeal on his onward journey, presenting him with vestments made by the Metropolitanate’s most esteemed workshop Riza. Father Sasa Stojanovic in turn thanked the Metropolitan for his paternal love and blessings, mentioning the names of all those who influenced his life in making the decision to become a priest, as well as those closest to him who supported and helped him over the past two decades.
After that, a festive lunch was served in the parish hall, where the guests were once again addressed by His Eminence and Father Sasa, with a few words of cordial welcome from subdeacon Slobodan Topić, the president of the St Sava’s Church Board.
The day was a true manifestation of prayerful Orthodox collegiality and unity. During his stay, the Metropolitan had the opportunity to learn more about the work and life of our Saint Sava Church in the city of Perth and Western Australia. On September 9, Metropolitan Siluan, accompanied by Protodeacon Petar, travelled back to Sydney.
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