Three Collections of Poetry: “Sacred Bigorski Monastery” and “Our Feasts” by a group of authors, edited by Mrs. Vera Blagojević-Samarđanin and “Conversing with the Mind” by Nada Aleksoska
Today, the Sacred Bigorski Monastery hosted another spiritually-cultural event. Namely, in the great monastery hall for special occasions, three collections of poetry were promoted: “Sacred Bigorski Monastery” and “Our Feasts” by a group of authors, edited by Mrs. Vera Blagojević-Samarđanin, and “Conversing with the Mind” by Nada Aleksoska.
The ceremony was opened by the dean of Macedonian pop music, singer-songwriter Dragan Mijalkovski, with a performance of the Song for the Patriarch: “Summer of 1762”. Immediately afterward, our elder and abbot, Bishop Mr. Partenij, greeted and blessed those present:
My dear ones, first, I want to thank all of you, gathered here in our centuries-old Sanctuary, who wished, with your God-given talents, to contribute to the celebration of the millennium of the Bigorski Monastery. I often refer to Bigorski as a heart that has beaten and beats for our people. Now, we heard the song from our renowned giant of the 19th-century Renaissance, Gligor Prlichev, who in his ‘Autobiography’ writes with admiration about Bigorski, as a monastery that uniquely, along with the Monastery of Prečista Kichevska, preserved the Slavic language. These two monasteries, during the Ottoman Empire, valiantly fought for the preservation of the Slavic linguistic tradition in liturgy and literacy. Here, the first cell school in the vernacular was opened, by the renowned abbot Archimandrite Arsenij from Galičnik. Thus, the great deed this Monastery has done in awakening the national spirit, at a time when the people living in these lands were in double bondage: both political and spiritual-educational, is undeniable. Therefore, today we can freely say that precisely because of that foundation of the national language in literacy and the educational work that started from Bigorski, you now sing and write poems in our contemporary Macedonian language. And you write and create inspired, of course, by the greatest Poet and Artist – God. In the Creed, written for the first time in Ancient Greek, about God it is said among other things: “Maker of heaven and earth”. You, the poets, well know that from that word Ποιητής come the nouns poet and poetry. As the supreme Poet, thus, as the Artist above artists, God is the One Who inspires, Who gives talents and bestows gifts upon people. And behold, all of you, through your goodwill, wished with those God-given talents to contribute to the Bigorski millennium. Once again, I thank you for this and from the depths of my heart, I send a blessing to all.
The poetic reading was started by Vera Blagojević-Samarđanin, who was also the organizer of today’s event, together with the Association for Macedonian-Bosnian Cooperation “MaBih” from Bitola. She read two poems, dedicated to the Bigorski elder and abbot, Bishop Partenij, and to our monastic brotherhood and sisterhoods.
Following her, the president of the Association “Skopjanka Mother Teresa”, Dimče Petruševski, greeted the attendees, expressing gratitude for the great jubilee of the Bigorski Monastery. He also presented Bishop Partenij with a suitable gift.
Subsequently, dozens of poets and poetesses, participants with their works in the collections, in the beautiful and warm atmosphere, read parts of their poetic creations.
On the occasion of the great jubilee of Bigorski, our renowned visual artist Živko Popovski-Cvetin presented Bishop Partenij with an artistic painting with the number 1000, adorned with his famous flowers of peace. Finally, a cultural-artistic program followed, featuring opera diva Serafina Fantauzzo, who performed the song “Na mnogaja leta”.
