MIRACULOUS BELT OF THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD IN BELGRADE ON THE EVE OF FEAST OF ASCENSION

BELGRADE, MAY 7 /SRNA/ - The Miraculous Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God, together with fragments of the Holy Cross of the Lord, the greatest relic of the Christian world, will be brought to Belgrade for the city's patron saint day, the Feast of the Ascension, which will remain recorded as one of the most significant events in the history of the capital, the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ said in a statement.

The Holy Belt will be brought to Belgrade on May 20 by a special flight by Archimandrite Jefrem, abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos. The reception of the relic will be held in front of the Ascension Church at 17:00, when His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije will serve the festive vespers. In the morning of the Feast of the Ascension, May 21, His Holiness will serve the festive liturgy. The Miraculous Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God will be available for veneration by the faithful in that church on both the first and second days, according to the Serbian Orthodox Church website. The traditional patron saint's day procession from the Ascension Church to the Saint Sava Church, led by the Belt of the Mother of God, the only personal belonging of the Mother of God preserved after her Assumption into Heaven, will begin at 19:00. Upon arrival at the Saint Sava Church in Vračar, an akathist to the Most Holy Mother of God will be served, and Patriarch Porfirije will deliver a sermon marking this historic event. According to sacred tradition, the miraculous belt of camel hair was woven by the Mother of God herself and worn by her while she carried the Lord Jesus Christ in her womb, and thus the grace of healing was bestowed upon the belt. There are hundreds upon hundreds of testimonies of healings and of childless couples being granted children after approaching the miraculous Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God with faith and prayer. The Holy Great Martyr Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović donated this sacred belt to the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in 1371, where it has been preserved to this day. Out of reverence and love of the monks of Mount Athos for the Most Holy Mother of God, a long-standing tradition emerged whereby pilgrims, upon request, are given pieces of ribbon blessed upon the very Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God for blessing and spiritual strength. At the Saint Sava Church in Vračar, cloth ribbons blessed upon the sacred Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God will also be provided to believers who express the wish to receive them.