Part of the Holy Cross from Mount Athos to arrive in Belgrade

Belgrade is expected to receive a relic of the True Cross from Mount Athos, church authorities announced after a recent meeting between Patriarch Porfirije and Archimandrite Efrem, abbot of Vatoped Monastery.

The Serbian Orthodox Church statement says the item to arrive is a piece of the Holy Cross that, according to long-standing monastic tradition, was given to Vatoped by Prince Lazar. The same tradition links the Belt of the Theotokos with Lazar’s gift to the monastery, connecting both relics to the famed medieval ruler.

Relic, meaning and pilgrimage

For Christians the Holy Cross is venerated as the instrument of Christ’s suffering and, through his Resurrection, the sign of victory over death. The wooden fragment preserved as part of the Golgotha Cross is therefore regarded as a direct link to the sacrifice Christ made for humanity.

The account of the discovery of the True Cross is traced to the fourth century in Jerusalem and to Empress Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine; Patriarch Makarios is said to have raised the Cross before the assembled people. The memory of that event is preserved in the feast known in English as the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and popularly as the autumn Cross Day.

Organizers have not yet published the exact date, location or detailed schedule for public veneration in Belgrade. The church statement indicates that organized visits will be arranged, including tours from North Macedonia.

The announcement comes while images are still fresh of the long queues that formed at the Temple of Saint Sava when worshippers came to venerate the Belt of the Theotokos; at times lines stretched over surrounding streets, more than 1.5 kilometres, and some believers waited up to 14 hours to approach the relic.

Photo: press material from the event