On the third day of the canonical visit to the Diocese of Canada, October 6, 2024, His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Mr. Porfirius served the Holy Liturgy in the Church of Saint Sava in Toronto.

In the capital of the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the shore of the lake of the same name in the so-called The Golden Horseshoe, the most populated Canadian region, in a city symbol of cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism where more than one hundred and fifty languages ​​are spoken and which receives more than one hundred thousand immigrants from all over the world every year, lives and develops, under the auspices of its Mother Church, and famous and all more influential Serbian community.

The first Serbs arrived in Toronto at the beginning of the last century. It was recorded that in the forties of the twentieth century, a small Serbian community considered their stay in the largest Canadian city to be temporary, dreaming of an imminent return to their beloved Motherland. However, the Second World War spoiled their plan, so in 1948, together with refugee compatriots, members of the Society of the Serbian People's Union Blue Adriatic, the Karađorđe Branch of the Serbian National Defense and the Circle of the Serbian Sisters of Queen Alexandra founded the Society for the Construction of a Serbian Home and Church in Toronto. whose patron was King Peter the Second personally.

The Serbian Home was opened on Savindan in 1954, the first Holy Liturgy was celebrated in it on Easter, and on September 3, the building was consecrated by the Holy Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović. The following year, on May 22, at the corner of Gerrard and River streets, the church of St. Sava was consecrated, which with its dignified modesty and unobtrusive beauty represents the true image and opportunity of its parishioners, who arrived in a distant and blessed land, most often in search of peace and daily bread. Under the auspices of the church dedicated to the first Serbian archbishop and educator, Serbian youth attend the School of Serbian Language and Religious Studies, sing to the Lord in the Kir Stefan Srbin church choir and preserve the customs and culture of their ancestors in the Stražilovo Folklore Society.

On Sunday morning, October 6, 2024, with the desire to witness and participate in the historic visit of the Most Holy Patriarch of Serbia, Mr. Porfiria, numerous pious parishioners gathered in the Svetosava Temple, joyfully welcoming their spiritual father and paternal archbishops.

- Brothers and sisters, it is important that we know this, there is nothing else that has such strength, such freshness and such reach as faith. There is not a single person without faith, everyone believes in something, and we, having seen through the prayers and efforts of Saint Sava, believe in Christ and see through Christ. That is why, brothers and sisters, the Orthodox faith is what shaped us, built and built us throughout the centuries. Everything we are - we are by the Orthodox faith. And not only that, but through the ages, through Scylla and Charybdis, through trials of various kinds, through various calamities, troubles, accidents and various deaths, we passed and survived. Know that we can only have true health and true strength, courage and willingness to tackle the challenges and temptations that life brings us if we have self-awareness, if we know who we are and where we come from, if we are aware of our spiritual identity first. That is why it is important, brothers and sisters, that we have the Orthodox faith. This is the fullness and perfection of God's revelation - said Patriarch Porphyry in his fatherly instruction to the gathered children and emphasized:

- It is important to protect our Church. There is no greater failure and no greater fall than separating oneself from the Body of Christ, from the community of the faithful. The church is the ship of salvation. The grace of God and the love of Christ reign in her. Therefore, to love God and our neighbor as ourselves with our whole being. The entire law and the prophets stand on that foundation, on the foundation of love, and those two loves are actually one and the same love, because when we love God, we also love our neighbors. Evangelist John says: If we love God, it is logical that we love each other. How can we love God whom we do not see, and we do not love the one whom He created, our brother who is next to us. On the other hand, our mutual love is a confirmation and an indication that we love God, that we believe in God and that we believe in Him by surrendering to His love, that we have confidence in Him, because He endures everything and forgives everything.

At the celebratory Holy Liturgy, His Holiness the Patriarch was served by the Most Reverend Metropolitans Longinus of Midwestern America and Mitrofan of Canada, and the Reverend Bishops of Washington-New York and Eastern America, Irinej, Vicar of Poland, Nikon, and retired George of Canada.

Source: SPC