His Grace Joanikije, Bishop ofBudimlja – Nikšić within the Metropolis ofMontenegro, Serbian Patriarchate, will participate, from 30 September to 04 October 2015 in the cultural and spiritual events organized by the Bishopric of Caransebeş, on the invitation of His Grace Lucian, Bishop of Caransebeş, and with the blessing of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romania. The visit is occasioned by the 150th anniversary of the Bishopric of Caransebeş from its establishment, and in order to strengthen the inner-eparchial brotherly relations.
Given the fact thatthe Romanian Patriarchate declared the year 2015, asa Commemorative Year of Saint John Chrysostom and of the Great Spiritual Shepherds within Eparchies, His Grace Bishop Joanikije will bring to be venerated in the Bishopric of Caransebeş the relics ofSt Apostle and Evangelist Luke, from the Kosijerevo Monasterywithin the Metropolis of Montenegro.
The Montenegrin delegation, led by His Grace Bishop Joanikije, will be received on Wednesday, 30 September 2015, at the Eparchial Cathedralthe Resurrection of Christin Caransebeş.On this occasion, a Te Deum service will be officiated in the Cathedral.
On 01 October 2015, on the patronal feast of Călugăra Monastery, the oldest monastic settlement of the Bishopric of Caransebes, His Grace Bishop Lucian and His Grace Bishop Joanikije, assisted by an assembly of priests and deacons, will officiate at the Divine Liturgy, in the church’s outdoor altar. In the evening, the Montenegrin delegation will visit the oldest Romanian theatre and two historical churches in Oraviţa.
On Friday, 02 October 2015, the Montenegrin delegation will visit the Serbian monasteries of Danube’s Canyon (Baziaș, Cusici and Zlatița), along with His Grace Lukijan, Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Budapest and administrator of Timşoara Serbian Diocese, and his Grace Lucian, Bishop of Caransebeş. In the same day, the delegation will also visit Nera Monastery, the largest monastic community in Banat, namely, as well as the Oncologic Recovery Clinic in Slatina Nera town, held by the monastic settlement.
On Sunday, 04 October 2015, Their Graces Bishops Joanikije and Lucian, assisted by an assembly of clergymen, will officiate at the Divine Liturgy at the Eparchial Cathedralthe Resurrection of Christin Caransebeş. Next, the delegation will visit the historical St George Cathedral in Caransebeş, and the church dedicated to the Nativity of St John the Baptist, necropolis of the former Bishops of Caransebeş.
At the end of the visit, His Grace Bishop Joanikije will hold a conference, beginning with 18:00, in the Festivity Hall Bishop Elie Miron Cristea of the Eparchial Center.
The visit of His Grace Bishop Joanikije in the Bishopric of Caransebeş is a response to the visit of His Grace Lucian, Bishop of Caransebeş, in the Eparchy of Budimlja–Nikšić, carried in 2014, on the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, and is intended to strengthen the inner-eparchial brotherly relations.
