TRH Crown Prince Alexander, Hereditary Prince Philip, and Prince Stefan visited Monastery Hilandar in the previous days, which is a unique moment in the history and the tradition of the Royal family of Serbia. Not only that for the first time in history we have three generations of Karadjordjevics living in Serbia, but also, that three members of the Royal family visited one of the most important places of our nation’s spirituality.
As they have several times visited the Holy Imperial Serbian Lavra in Mount Athos in Greece individually, now the great wish of the Royal family of Serbia but also of the Holy brotherhood of this sanctuary, came true. Their Royal Highnesses arrived in Hilandar on Friday, 5 September, and were welcomed with the highest honours by Most Reverend Archimandrite Metodije, Father Superior, together with the brotherhood of the monastery, who performed a doxology service in the monastery church, in honour of the distinguished guests.
On Sunday, 6 September, Their Royal Highnesses attended the morning Liturgy together with the numerous believers who are visiting Hilandar, during which the Crown Prince recite the Lord’s Prayer, while the Hereditary Prince spoke The Nicene Constantinopolitan Creed: The Symbol of Our Faith. Prince Stefan said the Lord’s Prayer on the Divine Liturgy which was held on Monday morning, on the last day of the stay in the monastery.
On the occasion of this historical visit, and for all the merits that Abbot Metodije has for our people, our country, and the Royal Family of Serbia, the Crown Prince decorated him with the Royal Order of the Star of Karađorđe in the degree of Grand Officer (the Second Degree). The order of the Karadjordje’s Star was presented to Father Superior Metodije in front of the entire brotherhood in the “sinodik”, a solemn room where portraits of Kings Peter II and Alexander I stand. As a reminder, in 2023, on the 825th anniversary of the establishment of the Monastery, the Head of the Royal Family of Serbia decorated Hilandar with the Royal Order of the Star of Karađorđe in the First Degree. Their Royal Highnesses hung this decoration in front of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos with the Three Hands during this visit.
“I am grateful to God for the opportunity to be here again in our Hilandar. This fourth visit is very special to me, as I am here with my son and grandson, which is an extraordinary and true blessing. We are together here in one of the greatest sanctuaries of our people, the strong guardian of our faith, our tradition, who we as a people are.
The walls of Hilandar inspire peace and tranquillity in every person of faith. This holy monastery has kept our national and spiritual strength and provided hope for the Serbian people during all these centuries since Saint Sava and Saint Simeon established it. But it has also given strength to my family, in some of our hardest times. I am deeply grateful to Abbot Metodije and all the brotherhood for all the love the monastery has shown to all my ancestors, and our Royal Home. The bonds and mutual respect and affection between Hilandar and Karadjordjevics are everlasting and unbreakable”, said HRH Crown Prince Alexander on this occasion.
As a lasting memorial to the historic visit of three generations of the Royal Family of Serbia, Their Royal Highnesses jointly planted a cypress tree near the olive tree of Emperor Dusan. Grandfather, father and grandson also went to the olive tree which the Crown Prince planted during his first visit in 1990 and participated in traditional grape picking in monastery’s vineyard. HRH Crown Prince Alexander is only the fourth person who was honoured by the monastery to plant an olive tree, after Emperor Dusan, King Alexander Obrenovic, and King Peter I.
“Today, three generations of the Royal Family are together in Hilandar. But we have not come here to talk about ourselves. We have come to pay our respects to something older, greater and more enduring than any of us. We have come to present our gratitude and to remember what it means to receive something from our ancestors – and one day to pass it on to our children,” said Hereditary Prince Philip.
Addressing his father, he pointed out that he received the name he bears from him, learned about family, about ancestors, about our people and about the duty that the name Karađorđević carries, and that today, as he stands next to him in Hilandar, he understands even better that “from our father we not only receive what we can be proud of, we also receive the responsibility to preserve and pass on what we were given.” And he told Prince Stefan that he wanted his son to remember that he was in Hilandar with his father and grandfather “not because we are important, but because I want you to know that there are things greater than all of us – faith, family, people, honor, service to others and responsibility towards those who came before us and those who will come after us.
Heritage is not what belongs to us. Heritage is what we are responsible for. Our ancestors did not leave us their history so that we could just talk about it. They left it to us so that we would know from it how to live. Tradition is therefore not just preserving the past. Tradition is preserving the flame. Someone kept it before us. Today that flame is in our hands. And one day we must hand it over to our children.
That is why the Royal House of Karađorđević should not see its role as a privilege. It is above all a duty to be with our people, with our Church, with our holy places and with everything that preserves our memory and our identity. Not just in words, but in action, loyalty and service,” said the Hereditary Prince in his address.
In his sermon on behalf of the Hilandar brotherhood, Abbot Metodije said that this visit brought great spiritual joy and strengthening. “The Hilandar Monastery preserves in its treasuries, in its chronicles, the rich Serbian history, the memory of great personalities from our people and important events, and not only from our Serbian people, but from other Orthodox peoples. But we at Hilandar not only preserve that ancient past, but it often happens that history is written in our time and that we are witnesses to the creation of new history, when important events occur. And one such important event is indeed your visit, the visit of three generations of the Royal Karađorđević family, for the first time in the history of our monastery and Mount Athos. And precisely because of that, it is a great spiritual joy for us.”
On their way back to Serbia, Their Royal Highnesses in Thessaloniki met with His Eminence Metropolitan of Lagadas, Litis, and Rentina Platon, member of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece. His Eminence has high respect for the Royal Family of Serbia, and this meeting is another reminder of close and brotherly relations between the people of Greece and Serbia.
Photo – Monk Milutin of Hilandar
