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Patriarch Irinej, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, expressed his wish during the midnight Easter service in the St. Sava Church in Belgrade, held in the absence of believers, that “the Lord bless all, have mercy and put an end to the great temptation that is called epidemic.”
On April 19 he congratulated “the greatest festival of all” to all those who were watching the liturgy broadcast live on TV, saying that “we can pray to God at any place” and that the family is actually “a home church.”
Saying that the virus has taken thousands and thousands of lives, the patriarch added that the epidemic is a warning to every person to re-examine his own actions, and what is going on in the world, pointing out that “many people have forsaken God.”
“We hope that this temptation will force the power-mongers and oppressors who are imposing their will on the entire world to understand that what they are doing and craving is but vanity, something false and transient, and that what is and remains is only God and His truth,” the patriarch said after the liturgy, which he served with the assistance of several priests from the Belgrade-Karlovac Eparchy.
The message the patriarch traditionally sends on Easter was read after the service.
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