Speech by Nun Ephimia at the premiere of the documentary film “1000 Years – Witness of the Light”, at the Macedonian National Theatre, on April 15, 2022
Honorable President Mr. Stevo Pendarovski,
Your Beatitude, Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia and Justiniana Prima, Mr. Mr. Stefan,
Your Grace, Bishop Antaniski Mr. Partenij, Abbot and Hegumen of Bigorski,
Your Grace, Bishop of Stobiski Mr. Jakov,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished guests and friends present,
Dear viewers in front of the small screens,,
The documentary, with its Cross-Resurrection content, just as we stand on the threshold of the Great and Passionate Week, brought forth truly important messages for all of us.
Therefore, I would not like to say anything more than what you have just heard and seen, except from this place, where most of us have met the beauty in the great works of art many times, to take the opportunity, on behalf of our Elder, Bishop Partenij, on behalf of our entire monastic brotherhood and sisterhood, to read the names and call them here on stage to express our gratitude to all those beautiful, tireless, creative, and noble people, who in the past five years, very sincerely and generously shared with us the sense of high aesthetics, professional knowledge, and deep artistry. And not just for that, but more than anything – for their pure love and faith in us, by becoming witnesses to the Light themselves, they permanently engraved themselves in the history of the Bigorski sanctuary.
Let’s greet them with a huge round of applause… I will start with the only lady in the team:
Mrs. Elena Cvetkovska,
Mr. Milan Kopčarevski,
Mr. Tome Ljušev,
Mr. Đorđi Dimovski,
Mr. Vlatko Delovski,
Mr. Aleksandar Paunovski,
Mr. Aleksandar Dončev,
Mr. Aleksandar Todorovski,
Mr. Saško Micevski,
Mr. Darko Dimitrievski,
Mr. Simon Kiprovski,
Mr. Nikola Grnčarov,
Mr. Stojan Stojanovski,
Mr. Marko Đurčić,
Mr. Saško Stojanovski,
Mr. Goran Kuzmanovski,
Mr. Bratislav Zafirovski,
Mr. Darko Danilov,
Mr. Goran Trajkovski – Gotra,
Mr. Goran Kostadinov,
Mr. Branko Blaževski,
Mr. Ilija Žogovski,
Mr. Blagoj Veselinov,
The Bigorski Monastery wants to express gratitude to another person who constantly watches over and cares for our health. To know that someone is your health support while you perform your tasks, not the least bit easy, is truly a great gift. Therefore, we warmly and sincerely want to thank Dr. Žan Mitrev, by awarding him the Order of the Forerunner.
Before the end of this significant event for all of us, with which we round off the celebration of the millennium since the foundation of the Bigorski Monastery, I would like to highlight something very important:
Collaborating with Ilija Karov is truly a great gift. For all of us! Why? Because of his humility, authenticity, directness, discipline, and also courage and decisiveness in key moments, because of his uncompromising loyalty not only to art but also to the First Artist and those He chose to co-create in beauty.
Therefore, the Bigorski Monastery, led by the abbot and bishop Partenij, awards this free-spirited, creative, and culturally and spiritually elevated man, the Order of the Forerunner, with a request to continue expressing himself through what he does best – film art.
