Today, in the village of Sušiće in the municipality of Štrpce, a foundation stone was laid and the foundations were consecrated for the construction of a new church, the first to be built in this municipality in the 21st century.
The village of Sušiće, located at the highest altitude in the municipality of Štrpce, is the only Serbian village in this municipality that did not have a church. The consecration of the foundations and the laying of the foundation stone were performed by Father Miloš Vukić, the parish priest of Sirinićki drugi, Protopriest Boško Klisarić, Protopriest Saša Mitrović, secretary of the Raška-Prizren Diocese, and Father Zoran Gođevac, with the blessing of Metropolitan Teodosije, in the presence of a large number of both villagers and other residents of the Sirinićka parish, as reported by Kosovo Online.
In his address, Father Miloš Vukić, the parish priest of Sirinićki drugi, thanked everyone who helped in the construction of the church and expressed hope that next year, in this very church, they would celebrate the feast day of Saint Panteleimon the Great Martyr, which is also the village slava (patron saint’s day) in this place.
“We have gathered today to do something that will remain in the history of this village and of this people of the Sirinićka parish. We are in a village that is the only one in the Sirinićka parish that does not have its own temple, does not have its own place of worship where people can pray, especially if we remember those winter times, especially when one can’t even go to the doctor, let alone to a temple. Thank God, we have begun this God-pleasing work thanks to all these villagers and all good people, not to mention now, some gave more, some gave less, people went from village to village, collected donations for the construction of this temple, thank God we have enough, and there will be more, but the point is, and the essence of all this, that the temple, or rather the church, is built by the people, not by one individual who can build it and say, this is my sanctuary as kings and emperors used to do, but the church is built by the people and therefore thank you to all who participated in this charitable action and to all those who are helping us and who will help us to bring this God-pleasing work to an end and to glorify God, if God wills, next year on the feast day of Saint Panteleimon the Great Martyr, that we all see each other here to consecrate the built temple, and may God the Lord and all the angels of God and all the saints be with us all, amen God willing,” said Father Vukić.
The president of the municipality of Štrpce, Dalibor Jevtić, said that the construction of this church sends a clear message in these times that the people do not want to leave these areas.
“I am proud of the fact that this is the first sanctuary to be built in the 21st century on the territory of our municipality, I am proud of the fact that the people initiated the initiative to have a sanctuary here in the village of Sušiće, the only place in our municipality where Serbian people live and which until now did not have an Orthodox sanctuary. For me, this is a special day for several reasons, both because we managed to start this whole process knowing that we will finish the construction of this sanctuary, and on the other hand, a very clear message is when you build a sanctuary in these times, it is not significant because of that sanctuary and the people, but it is a clear message that the Serbian people do not want to leave these areas and in that sense it is the most important thing for me. We, as a municipality, and as fellow citizens, will see this whole project through to the end and now I have talked to the villagers, with fellow citizens, and we have already agreed that next year on August 9th, we will hold a suitable gathering here, as the first gathering after the construction of this first sanctuary,” Jevtić emphasized.
Miroljub Milenković, who donated the land where the church will be built, said that it was his father’s wish and that when the church is built, they will finally have a place to go for slava and holidays.
“The first reason is because a few years ago there was the same story, as if they were going to build a church, and my father expressed a desire to donate this plot of land and that year nothing happened, it was just talk. Last year I heard that they were looking for the same plot of land, I talked to my family and found those who wanted to start the initiative to build a church, I talked to people, I saw that they were serious about it and I decided to give the plot and fulfill my father’s wish to donate the plot. This is very significant for us because we were the only village that did not have a church and after so many years we are getting our own temple where we can pray and go for slava and holidays,” said Milenković.
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Source: Kurir
Photo: Kosovo online