06/17/2026
Memorandum of Cooperation Signed Between the Holy Monastery of Hilandar and the Mitrovica Gymnasium
The Very Reverend Archimandrite Methodius, Abbot of the Holy Imperial Serbian Lavra of Hilandar on Mount Athos, visited Sremska Mitrovica on June 11, 2026. On that occasion, he visited the Mitrovica Gymnasium, accompanied by two Hilandar brethren members, hieromonk Nektarios and monk Simon.
The arrival of the Abbot of Hilandar and a part of the brethren marked the official beginning of cooperation between the Holy Monastery of Hilandar and the Mitrovica Gymnasium, which was confirmed by the ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation within the initiative ‘Hilandar Lighthouse’.
In the presence of numerous teachers, students, school staff, and parents, the Hilandar monks were received by the principal of the Mitrovica Gymnasium, Mirjana Đorđević. The welcome was followed by an appropriate student program and the opening of an exhibition of original photographs by Monk Milutin Hilandarac, titled ‘Through the Lens of a Hilandar Monk’.
The initiator of the cooperation is presbyter Stefan Nedić.
The attendees were greeted with welcoming remarks by the school principal, who also expressed her gratitude and confidence that the cooperation would successfully contribute to the education and upbringing of the students of the Mitrovica Gymnasium. She especially emphasized the importance of the Holy Monastery of Hilandar and its inseparable bond with education.
The blessings of His Eminence, the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Srem, Mr. Vasilije, were conveyed to all gathered by protopresbyter-stavrophor Prof. Dr. Vladimir Stupar.
In his address, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Methodius highlighted the great joy of the meeting and the beginning of cooperation with the Mitrovica Gymnasium—especially in a year of significant jubilees: 850 years since the birth of Saint Sava and 835 years since his departure to Mount Athos. The Abbot reflected on the nine centuries of the Hilandar Monastery’s existence, emphasizing that, through such initiatives, the Hilandar monks strive to continue the mission of its founder, Saint Sava.
The ceremony was also attended by the Assistant Minister of Education, Danka Nešović.
As a memento of the event, a token of fruitful cooperation and a mark of the first visit to the school, Abbot Methodius, on behalf of the brethren of the Hilandar Monastery, presented the principal with an icon of the Most Holy ‘Three-Handed’ Theotokos.
Photo by: Čedomir Nedeljković
