The festivity which still follows the most joyful celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord, brings special joy to the hearts of Christians not just in our country but also abroad. Thus, this year as well, the traditional Litany of Struga, which has turned into a national event gathering a huge multitude of faithful and uniting them in the same spirit and thought gave special respect and gratitude to the great sacristies – the Holy Relics of Saint George the Triumphant from the Rajcica Monastery, his ancient miraculous icon, as well as the Krnin icon of the Mother of God. As never before, tens of thousands of people stood in the streets, the pavements, and the squares, following the glorious Litany, which consisted of many God’s priests, monks, chanters, members of the Miyak guard of Bigorski, carriers of the banners, the city orchestra of Skopje and the youth dressed in national folk costumes. In return, they were all endowed with the abundant blessing of the Mother of God and the triumphant Saint George, who brought to their hearts the grace from above.
The festive Vespers was headed by our respected Metropolitan of Debar and Kichevo, Mr Timothy, together with our beloved Elder, the Bishop of Antania Mr Parthenius, and to our great joy, for the first time in history, since the beginning of this event in Struga, with the participation of a Bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Metropolitan of Imbros and Tenedos, Mr Cyril, who arrived at the invitation of Bishop Timothy to be our special guest.
The churchyard of the temple dedicated to St George, where the vespers took place and where the greater part of the Debar and Kichevo clergy attended, was filled with a huge number of faithful who joyfully joined the prayerful procession so that they could give honour to the miraculous and worldly renowned Saint George, thus gain mighty blessing.
The festivity continued even after the Litany, with the specially prepared cultural programme: the concert of the Byzantine choir “St. Kosmas of Prechista” and the performance of the folk dance group “Biser” from Kichevo. May our merciful Lord take this joined prayer for the blessing and spiritual strengthening of the entire Orthodoxy, so that in future we could celebrate even with greater glory this magnificent Litany of Struga which made the town of Struga famous all over the world.
Special thanks are also due to the blessed team of photographers and videographers who tirelessly documented and immortalized this extraordinary and dazzling event: Stojan Stojanovski, Darko Cvetanoski, Dimitar Birachoski, Vlatko Vasilevski, Pero Rajchinoski, Aleksandar Menkinoski, and Dejan Doneski.
