The traditional cultural and spiritual event "St. Basil's Days", which has been organized since 1996, will begin on May 7 with the promotion of the collection and a photo exhibition in honor of the deceased, Metropolitan Amfilohi and Bishop Athanasius, and will end with a large national procession on May 12, led by the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, with more than 20 bishops.
This year's event, as was said at the press conference, is special for two reasons - the first is the jubilee celebration, 350 years since the death of St. Vasilija, and others that the "Days of St. Vasilija" are organized for the first time together by the Church Municipality and the Municipality of Nikšić, with the support of the local Tourist Organization (TO).
The jubilee was supposed to be celebrated last year, but due to epidemiological measures, it was postponed to this year.
"This year's event is dedicated, first of all, to the 350th anniversary of the death of Saint Basil, the best of us, the protector of all homes, our city, our temple, this most beautiful in Montenegro, so we also have an obligation to return the blessing with a blessing and thanksgiving. This year is gratitude to our saint for everything he does and will do for the people, above all, of this city," said the archbishop of Nikšić, Slobodan Jokić.
According to him, the Municipality of Nikšić recognized not only the mentioned event, but also others, so that a very good and high-quality cooperation with the new local administration was established.
"The citizens of Nikšić will see how beautiful it is and how it is when there is general satisfaction for the progress of this city. As Nikšić citizens, we are always eager for community, to present our city in the most beautiful light, exactly as it is as the city of St. Vasilij," said Jokić.
As he pointed out, on May 12, Nikšić is the center not only of the region, but also beyond, because they already have announcements from "the whole of Europe".
Marko Kovačević, the President of the Municipality, emphasized that this is the most significant, most massive and most visited event in Nikšić.
"That's why we could not remain indifferent as a local government, as if nothing was happening, but decided to be co-organizers. I think this is the obligation of every future local self-government that will be at the head of the city under Trebjes. Bearing in mind the overall importance of St. Basil, we have also established cooperation with the Municipality of Trebinje, so that the manifestation would include the entire spiritual path, i.e. the geography of his life, from Popovo Polje to Ostrog, so representatives of Trebinje will be at the procession, and we will be their guests on May 11, when his hometown will be sanctified houses", said Kovačević.
According to him, the event is a great opportunity for Nikšić to show that he is living a new life.
"St. Vasilije, apart from being the spiritual leader of this nation and being guided by him through all life situations, is also the only true mayor of this city. The rest of us are transitory, and he always remains as one vertical that guides us in which way we should go in life. Nikšić started that way a long time ago, and now the local self-government has also done it. We will always help the organization of events of importance for our city, and our Serbian Orthodox Church and all other religious communities to the extent necessary," Kovačević said.
As he said, "Saint Basil's Days" are in line with the best European practices of numerous cities that have their own patrons.
"Surely the most famous example of that is St. Mark's in Venice, so from that point of view this is not only an Orthodox-Christian story, not only our Nikšić story, but also a European story," said the President of the Municipality.
According to the director of TO Nikšić, Mitra Barać, the plan and program of work of the Tourist Organization relies on rural and religious tourism.
"The possibilities of our municipality are great in terms of religious tourism. Religious buildings, both in terms of their appearance and importance, deserve better tourism valorization. Given that not much has been done in this area so far, these are only initial steps, that's why we supported the event. Our goal is to draw the attention of our fellow citizens to how important religious tourism is and how many benefits we can get from it, because religious tourism is the first tourist trend on a global level," said Barać and added that no single event can gather as many people in one place as Nikšić. lithium on May 12.
This year, three information desks will be set up - in Vilusi, the city square and Šak Petrović Square.
On the day when Vasilije, who was declared a saint due to his healing powers, passed away, on May 12, the holy bishop's liturgy will be served, while at 18 pm a solemn litany will begin in the streets of the city, which will end the "Days of Saint Vasilije Ostrski".
Promotions, exhibitions, film and monodrama
The "Days of St. Basil" program will be held in the hall of the Nikšić Theater starting at 20 p.m. The first evening, which, as Jokić said, is dedicated to two great men of this time, people who embedded themselves in Nikšić, as well as in the being of this nation, Metropolitan Amfilohije and Bishop Atanasije, will be attended by Bishop Metodije of Budimlja-Nikšić, Archpriest Stavrophori, Dr. Boris Brajović and Dr. Darko Đogo, and prof. Dr. Dušan Krcunović.
On the second evening, May 8, in cooperation with Matica, the Serbian Society of Members in Montenegro, a phototype of the magazine "Umetnost" from 1971, dedicated to the "defense of the chapel on Lovćen", will be promoted, at which Prof. Đorđe Trifunović, prof. Dr. Drago Perović, while the lyrics will be spoken by Ranko Mićanović. The film about Saint Vasilij Ostroška, directed by Ban Ilic, produced by TV Hram, will be promoted on May 9. In addition to the director, the abbot of the Ostrog monastery, proto-saint Sergije Rekić, and theologian Miloš Nenezić, M.Sc., will talk about the film. The monodrama "Words about the Saint", based on the work of St. Bishop Nikolaj Žički, performed by actor Nebojša Dugalić, is on the program on May 10, while a day later Milosav Tešić will be presented with the "Izviiskra Njegoševa" literary award, which is awarded by the Diocese of Budamlje-Niššić and the fashion house "Mona". The second winner of the award, Matija Bećković, will be presented with the award during the Lučidan festivities in Podgorica, in the Cathedral.
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