A FEAT THAT MELTS HEARTS: Four friends on bicycles traveled 500 kilometers to Hilandar to consecrate an icon for children with developmental disabilities!

A hand-crafted icon of Saint Sava, which will be donated to the Veternik Home for Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities, has arrived at the Hilandar Monastery. Following a four-day journey on bicycles, the icon was brought by four friends so that, prior to the donation, it could be consecrated in one of the most significant Serbian Orthodox monasteries.

The foursome, consisting of Predrag Bubalo, his brother Vladimir Bubalo, and their friends Dušan Živić and Marko Radosavljević, began their challenging but humane journey on Sunday, May 10th, from Leskovac.

On their way through three countries to the Hilandar monastery, they stopped, among other places, at the Prohor Pčinjski monastery near Vranje, where they attended a liturgy. Just before reaching their destination, they also visited the Kakovo Monastery — a metochion of the Hilandar monastery, an unavoidable stop for all those traveling to Mount Athos.

After a journey on bicycles of about 500 kilometers, they crossed the final part of the path by ferry, as no other way to reach the Hilandar Monastery exists. Before that, they left behind the bicycles, which they had acquired specially for the trip due to the specific requirements and length of the route.

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The large icon of Saint Sava, which will be handed over to the Veternik Home upon the return of the four friends, has religious as well as artistic significance because it is a handmade piece, created by casting metal and hand-working on wood, enriched with 24-karat gold and 925 silver in the IHTIS workshop.

Last year, a similar icon, the icon of Jesus Pantocrator, was gifted to the Tiršova University Children’s Hospital in Belgrade.