At the Holy Liturgy in the Church of St. Basil the Wonderworker of Ostrog in Dobrota, which was traditionally attended by a large number of believers, the Gospel of John was read. 65 (XX, 19-31):

"And when in the evening of that first day of the week, and while the doors were closed, where his disciples were gathered because of fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them: Peace be with you! And having said this, he showed them his hands and ribs. Then the disciples were happy to see the Lord. And Jesus said to them again: Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you. And having said this, he blew and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit! Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; and which you keep, they are kept. And Thomas, called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. And the other disciples said to him: We have seen the Lord. And he said to them: Unless I see in his hands the wounds of the nails, and put my finger into the wounds of the nails, and put my hand into his ribs, I will not believe. And after eight days his disciples were inside again and Thomas with them. Jesus came when the doors were closed, and stood in the middle and said: Peace be with you! Then said Tommy: Stretch your finger yonder and see my hands; and reach out your hand and put it in my ribs, and do not be unfaithful but faithful. And Thomas answered and said to him: My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him: Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who did not see but believed. And many other signs did Jesus in front of his disciples, which are not written in this book. And these are written so that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you have life in his name."

Addressing the faithful present, the archpriest of Kotor-Tivat, parish priest of Kotor, archpriest Nemanja Krivokapić said that St. Vasilije Ostroški Čudotovorac earned the Kingdom of God by faith in the resurrected Christ, who married him with a wreath of glory.

"Christ is risen, he is truly risen." We are saying this joyful greeting seven days after Easter. It should be like that because Easter is not an ordinary holiday, but the holiday of holidays, and that's how we'll greet each other until the more loyal holiday until Easter.

We celebrate a holiday that is fundamentally important because it is the victory of life over death. Christ was resurrected, defeated death, gave all of us the possibility of eternal life. Easter is the victory of sense over nonsense. Easter gives meaning to everything that happens on earth. Apostle Paul says: "If Christ is not resurrected, our faith is in vain, ours is in vain," says Fr. Nemanja.

As he indicated, today's celebration of St. Basil of Ostrog, whom the resurrected Christ glorified as a saint, crowning him with a wreath of glory, is aimed at achieving meaning on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

"The event we heard in the Holy Gospel, on the Sunday called Thomas's Sunday, we remember exactly the event that speaks and testifies to the resurrection of Christ. Christ was resurrected and appeared to the disciples who, although they listened to His sermon, knowing that He resurrected the dead, again when they crucified Him, they were afraid, ran away and were not sure what actually happened. When Christ was resurrected, He appeared to them and they were overjoyed to see Him, but Thomas was not present when He first appeared. When he appeared to the disciples again seven days later, Thomas was also present there, and He extended his hands to him and said, "Feel with your fingers and see that I am real, that I have a real body, that I am not an apparition and a vision, but really a real man and God." With that, he testified that it really happened," said Fr. Nemanja.

Speaking about the importance of remembering this event and the permission of Christ, he said that everything happened precisely because of doubters who would say that everything happened to the apostles.

"This event happened precisely to confirm that Christ was truly resurrected and that Thomas examined, verified and proved this to everyone then and to us to this day." They often call the apostle Thomas "Unbelieving Thomas". However, only the one who does not believe in Christ is unfaithful, and he just wanted to check, he was curious and wanted to establish, to make sure that it was really so and not just a fiction of the apostles," said Fr. Nemanja, recalling the words "blessed are those who did not see but believed".

All of us, he continued, learning from this Gospel should know and believe that Christ is risen, as well as that faith is the basis of our life.

"Today we celebrate one of the many who truly celebrated the risen Christ with their lives. It is Saint Vasilije Ostroški who has gathered us today in this holy temple to remember his life and what he did to earn the Kingdom of God - precisely by faith in the resurrected Christ who crowned him with a wreath of glory.

We all know about the multitude of miracles and events during his life, but also after the performance," said Fr. Nemanja, reminding that it is about the power of God, the power of the resurrected Christ.

At the holy relics of St. Vasilija in Ostrog, where they are located, many people approach and find eviction.

"And who evicts them?" Christ has just risen, and through the prayers of Saint Basil of Ostrog, who represents all of us, as well as other saints who have been glorified by God because they testified their faith in the risen Christ with their lives.

Celebrating St. We look up to Vasilij Ostroski based on his life and the way he earned his salvation. Imitating him, we also try to obtain that salvation.

May the Lord God, the Risen Christ, through the prayers of St. Basil of Ostrog, give us the firm faith that the apostles showed, so that we too cry out like Thomas: "My Lord and my God."

May that faith save us, amen," said Fr. Nemanja.

Photo by Andrea Ševaljević

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