On the day of remembrance of All the Venerable fathers who shone in the feat (the passing celebration on Saturday of Cheese week), on March 16, 2024, at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia led the Divine Liturgy and funeral service of the newly deceased Bishop Anthony of Moravici, Vicar of the Patriarch of Serbia, representative of the Patriarch of Serbia under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, rector of the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul at the Yauza Gate in Moscow (a compound of the Serbian Orthodox Church).
Bishop Anthony of Moravichy reposed to the Lord on March 11, 2024, at the age of 54, after a severe long-term illness. Until March 15, the coffin with the body of the deceased Vladyka was located in the Serbian courtyard in the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at the Yauza Gate. On the morning of March 16, the coffin with the body of the deceased was brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and installed in the center of the temple. Wreaths from the Patriarch of Moscow and the Patriarch of Serbia were laid at the steps of the Solea.
The family and friends of the late Bishop Anthony, including his mother, sister and niece, who arrived from Serbia, prayed at the service.
The hymns of the Liturgy were performed by the Patriarchal Choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The liturgical cries were raised in Church Slavonic and Serbian.
On the Soyuz and Spas TV channels, as well as on the official portal of the Russian Orthodox Church Патриархия.ги there was a live broadcast of the service.
Special petitions were made at a special litany, and the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church read a prayer for Holy Russia.
At the funeral litany, special prayers were offered for the repose of the soul of the deceased servant of God, His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria and His Grace Bishop Anthony of Moravichy.
The sermon before communion (on the ministry of Bishop Anthony's Church) was delivered by Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, rector of the Church of the Resurrection of the Living in Danilovskaya Sloboda, Deputy Chairman of the DECR MP.
Then His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia celebrated the funeral service of Bishop Anthony of Moravica.
Before the beginning of the funeral service, the Primate of the Russian Church pronounced a word dedicated to the memory of Bishop Anthony:
"In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
We are seeing off our brother Anthony, who was well known in Moscow by all those who regularly visit churches. Vladyka served here representing the Serbian Church, prayed with us, and we all loved and respected him very much.
When we use the words "love", "to love", what do we not mean by these words. But in fact, love is closely related to how we perceive the person we love. You can't love and not trust, you can't love and suspect something, you can't love and look for an alternative to love. People who are married know very well that if these principles of love are violated, the marriage breaks up. And if we talk about Christian love, about love for each other, but we bring into this love our sin, our misunderstanding, a certain suspicion, then love remains only in words, but in fact it disappears.
Why am I talking about all this? Because today we are seeing off our brother Anthony, a worthy representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who linked his life with Russia, with the Russian Church, and whom we really loved. And speaking about this love, I would also like to say that love cannot be one-sided: such love is always unhappy and eventually collapses. But love for the deceased was really a two-way movement. Russian Russian Church, he loved the Russian people, and we felt the sincerity of this love and, of course, in response to this, we also loved him, respected, appreciated him as a worthy representative of the fraternal Serbian Church.
It is even hard to imagine that he is no longer with us physically, here on this earth. But he is undoubtedly with us today and, I hope, will remain in the memory of the church — at least as long as the generation that knew dear Vladyka is alive.
The deceased, unlike the living, does not need anything from us — only our prayerful memory of him. I call on all those who are present here today — both clergy and laity — to remember the late Right Reverend Bishop Anthony in their prayers. Russian Russian Orthodox Church. Both in your home prayers and in your notes, when you send them during the divine service, include, along with the names of your relatives and friends, the name of Vladyka Anthony, who deserved our prayerful memory with his love for Russia, for the Russian Church and wonderful works both on Russian soil and in his native Serbia.
Through the prayers of the saints of God, who shone in the Russian and Serbian Churches, may the Lord rest the soul of His newly deceased servant Anthony, our brother, and preserve the eternal prayerful memory of him in our hearts. Amen to that."
The funeral rites were performed in Church Slavonic and Serbian.
According to tradition, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill read out and placed in the hands of the deceased a letter with a permissive prayer.
The primates of the Russian and Serbian Churches laid bouquets of white roses on the coffin.
Bishop Anthony will be buried at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at the Yauza Gate, a compound of the Serbian Orthodox Church (Peter and Paul Lane, 4-6), where the representative of the Patriarch of Serbia to the Moscow Patriarchal Throne served for 22 years.
According to the materials of the press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia