Page 13 - Western Diocese Annual 2023

2023 DIOCESAN ANNUAL
Sava Camp every summer. Popadija Biljana Bojovic and Gorjana Doskovic, the choir director of the As- sumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Serbian Church in Fair Oaks, CA, entertained the clergy and delegates and all guests attending this year’s Dioce- san Days banquet. They at first played “Mirror in Mirror”, for piano and cello, written by Arvo Pärt, the most performed living composer of classical music in the world and a devout Orthodox Christian from Estonia. In his middle age, he experienced a serious existential crisis and was not able to write a single note of music for full eight years. However, during that period he encountered the Lord Jesus Christ in the Orthodox Church as the meaning, sol- ace and joy of his life. When he finally started writ- ing music again, his style completely changed—from a flamboyant to a minimalistic, humble and child- like. As he says, all his new compositions spring out from his prayerful silence. This piece was played as an homage to all those who departed this world since the previous Diocesan Days in Jackson: our former Patriarch Irinej, Metropolitans Amfilohije and Kallistos (Ware), Bishops Milutin, Atanasije, Luka and Lavrentije, Protopresbyters Dušan and James, Protodeacon Triva, all other brothers and sis- ters from our parishes and families, and this time
especially the 47 miners who died in the Argonaut Mine Disaster a hundred years ago. At second, Bil- jana and Gorjana sang three songs about the Most Holy Mother God, since the Diocesan Days always take place during the Labor Day weekend, in the af- ter-feast of Dormition of the Theotokos. Around this feast Saint Sava was enthroned as our first Arch- bishop, Saint Sebastian was ordained a priest and his relics were transferred from Žiča to Jackson, and our Bishop Maxim was enthroned in Los Angeles as the bishop of the Serbian Western American Diocese sixteen years ago. The three songs were from the Ser- bian, Russian–American and Greek traditions. The Serbian song was written by Saint Nikolai Velimiro- vić and the Greek by Saint Nektarios of Aegina. Fi- nally, playing piano and cello again, they performed the Serbian folk song “Oj Kosovo, Kosovo” in sup- port for our suffering brethren at our holy land of Kosovo and Metohia, and in anticipation of the blessed event of enthronement of our Patriarch Por- firije in the historic see of our Patriarchate in Peć this fall, God willing.
At the conclusion of the program and closing prayer this year’s Diocesan Days gathering came to an end.
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