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EPISCOPE – A JOY FOR THE CHURCH ( 13.07.2005 )

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Here is new joy in the MOC! Just twenty days after the consecration of Bishop Methodius on the third day of Pentecost in Skopje, Our Lord has doubled our joy with new elation through today’s consecration here in Bitola.

Blessed Bishops, Lovers of Our Lord, Brother Climent!

            Joyous is this rank in the Holy Church, because, “If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work,” says the Holy Apostle Paul 1 Timothy 3:1.          

            The rank of Bishop is the highest in church hierarchy. Bishops are undeniably the successors of Christ’s apostles and every consecration represents continuation of the apostles’ work in the Holy Church. Whoever wants episcopacy, also wants to be a bishop, he needs and becomes an apostle! Whoever wants episcopacy, he wants apostleship in the MOC – he accepts with the highest obligation, to serve and provide for our Holy Church and our God-loving people.

             Your choice for consecration as a Bishop in the MOC, with God’s help, is happening in an exceptional time for our Holy Church. This is a time to be temptated, a time to be testing, and a time to suffer. Only those completely committed to church and the Macedonian national ideals, and those self-readied to endure through anything, can serve and provide for our Holy Church. I call You, as the youngest, along with your brother hierarchs and clergymen of the MOC, that without fear, and in holiness and righteousness to serve God and our Holy Church, all the days of our lives (Luke 1:75). And let us never forget that Our Lord Jesus Chris said: For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required (Luke 12:48). The bishop is given the most: he has unconditionally received God’s blessing in order to oversee and keep Our Lord’s people, to be a heir-pastor and keeper of his dignity and the dignity of the Holy Church, that which granted him this rank!            

This City - Monastery, knows exactly who came to build, and who came to destroy! Bitola is the city that suffered the most in the last few years. Because of this, our Holy Church and our people are ashamed. You, as a vicar-Bishop in this Diocese, closest to her overseeing Hierarch, can help maintain the unity and holiness of your church. To help Bitola become a city that will fulfill our spiritual happiness and pride once again. 

            Through the prayers of St. Climent of Ohrid, the miracle worker, patron of our Holy Church, and your guardian, through the prayers of the Holy great-martyr Dimitrij, patron of the City of Bitola, and the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, who we celebrate today - May our merciful God give you strength and wisdom so that you may serve and provide for the MOC and the Macedonian Orthodox people with dignity, episcopally, and in apostleship.                                                                         

 

Archbishop of

Ohrid and Macedonia

Stefan