23.09.2013
Century and a half since construction of Ascension Church in Belgrade
The church of the Ascension of the Lord in Belgrade was built and consecrated 150 years ago. The Ascension Church was a military church in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In its vicinity, there were House of Guards, the Military Academy and the Grand barracks, thus the church was built for the needs of the military. The strong link between the two institutions has been marked today in two ways. First, it was marked with a liturgy presided by Bishop Jovan (Culibrk) this morning at 9 am, and concelebrated by the newly appointed priests of the Serbian Armed Forces.The Jubilee celebration was continued in the Great Hall of the Central Military Club of the Serbian Armed Forces in the evening. The programme was conducted by Captain Dejan Lazarevic, and ethnic chanting by Milica Maric and actors Ivan Vuckovic and Mladen Milic, saying parts of the scenic performance of "Karadjordje kojekude" part contributed to the revival of the spiritual history.
First, the guests were addressed by Colonel Borislav Grozdic, professor of ethics at the Military Academy:
- It is not the temple that needs this jubilee, but us, the people who suffer from a serious illness. Disease and plague of the modern world is the feeling of meaninglessness, a sense that all the values have been destroyed, that there is no answer to the question "why". And is there better response than 150 years repeating the same sacred liturgy and serving God. Everything is temporary, but what is the motive of the liturgy is eternal.The dean of the Ascension Church Arsenije Arsenijevic, shared similar message with the participants:
- We are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the building of the Temple, or more precisely of its consecration, from the beginning of the service, because the temple is being constantly built. We are the ones who are building it, but what is very important is the fact that the temple builds all of us. We are the ones who are building ourselves through our faith into the foundation of the Holy Ascension Church.
