10/14/2026
Sixth Award Pilgrimage for High School Students as Part of the “Hilandar Lighthouse” Project
Students from Zemun Gymnasium, the Mathematical Grammar School, and Smederevo Gymnasium who were awarded prizes in this year’s literary competition held as part of the “Hilandar Lighthouse” project took part in a pilgrimage to Greece from 25 to 29 September 2026.
The journey was a gift from the Holy Monastery of Hilandar to talented young people. This year, it was organized for the sixth time, with the blessing and through the efforts of the Very Reverend Archimandrite Methodius and the Council of Elders of the Monastery of Hilandar.
Thirty-six students participated, twelve prize winners from each school. The competition topics were: 1. “What Do I Expect from Hilandar?” and 2. “The young Rastko Nemanjić went to Mount Athos in search of Meaning. How do we search for Meaning today?”, marking the 835th anniversary of St. Sava’s departure for Mount Athos.
The first stop on the pilgrimage was Thessaloniki and the Serbian Military Cemetery at Zeitenlik, where the students, their teachers, and other members of the group paid tribute to the thousands of soldiers buried there who lost their lives during the breakthrough of the Salonica Front in the First World War. During their visit to Thessaloniki, they also visited the Church of the St. Great Martyr and Victory-Bearer Demetrius and the Mount Athos Center (Αγιορετική Εστία). On this occasion, the students venerated the myrrh-streaming relics of St. Demetrius and St. Anysia. They received an expert-guided tour of the exhibition titled “The Mount Athos of Konstantinos Xenopoulos. An Experiential Approach to the Garden of the Most Holy Theotokos.” To mark the arrival of the High school students from Serbia, the exhibition’s creator, artist Konstantinos Xenopoulos, traveled to Thessaloniki and addressed them in person. The gathering then continued with an engaging conversation about Mount Athos with Anastasios Douros, Director of the Mount Athos Center.
The following day, the male members of the group set out for the Holy Monastery of Hilandar. After the boat carrying the boys departed from Ouranoupolis for Mount Athos, the girls continued their program with a several-hour cruise along the southwestern coast of the Athonite peninsula. From the sea and at the permitted distance, they viewed the magnificent monasteries of Mount Athos, including Xenophontos, Docheiariou, St. Panteleimon, Xiropotamou, Simonopetra, Gregoriou, Dionysiou, and St. Paul. At the same time, they listened to historiography, biographies of known monks, and fascinating stories about these monastic communities and the Garden of the Theotokos in general. A special blessing and source of immense joy for them came when relics from the Monastery of Xenophontos were brought out to the pilgrims. The brotherhood of Xenophontos brought aboard the ship many reliquaries containing particles of holy relics, including those of the Holy Apostles Barnabas, Philip, and Andrew the First-Called; the St. Great Martyrs and Victory-Bearers George and Demetrius; St. Anne, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos; St. Basil the Great; and the Holy Archdeacon and Protomartyr Stephen. During this extraordinary voyage, on the eve of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the female students also had the unique opportunity to venerate a fragment of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, upon arriving at the monastery, the boys toured Hilandar’s katholikon and the monastery complex. They venerated the icon of the Most Holy “Three-Handed” Theotokos and the reliquary of the Venerable Simeon the Myrrh-streaming. That same evening, they took part in a six-hour Athonite vigil for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and the following morning, they received Holy Communion at the Divine Liturgy. During the service, after its solemn procession to the center of the church, the students also venerated the richly adorned fragment of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, a gift from Emperor John III Vatatzes, which St. Sava had brought to Hilandar in mid-1229. They also attended the blessing of this year’s grapes from the vine of the Venerable Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, which miraculously grew from the Saint’s empty tomb in 1206, and were offered its fruit. Afterward, they shared a meal with the Hilandar monks in the refectory, dating back to the time of Holy King Milutin.
The female members of the group celebrated the feast at the Monastery of Ormylia, a metochion of the Athonite Monastery of Simonopetra. The Very Reverend Mother Nikodima, Abbess of the monastery, and the sisterhood of Ormylia extended warm and loving hospitality to the prize-winning students.
They attended the Divine Liturgy in the katholikon dedicated to the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, where they received Holy Communion and experienced authentic Athonite spirituality, which has for centuries inspired the monastic and liturgical life of this holy place. Following the service, they took part in the festal meal in the monastery refectory. Afterward, they learned more about the monastery complex, spent time in conversation with Hieromonk Efthymios and the sisterhood, and venerated the grave of the great Athonite ascetic of our own time, Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra.
Following their unforgettable stay at Ormylia, the students continued their pilgrimage with a visit to the Monastery of St. Lydia near Asprovalta. There, they enjoyed the hospitality of the sisterhood, toured the monastery’s katholikon and complex, and venerated the grave of Archimandrite Theophilos Zisopoulos, the founder and former spiritual father of the Monastery of St. Lydia. Over refreshments in the monastery’s guesthouse and through conversations with Sister Georgia and the rest of the sisterhood, they learned about the history, spirituality, and fruitful mission of this monastic community, which today is Greece’s largest humanitarian institution. The students learned that during the 1990s, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Theophilos, together with the monastic community, initiated an extensive mission to provide aid to the Serbian people at a time of great suffering. On that occasion, the sisters provided care for more than 10,000 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo and Metohija, while also collecting essential aid for people in war-affected areas, assisting war orphans and the wounded, and providing scholarships for school and university students. The gathering with the sisterhood left a particularly strong impression on the students, their teachers, and the accompanying members of the group. In addition to songs in Greek, the sisters sang several traditional Serbian songs. Their singing about the crucified Kosovo and Metohija was especially moving.
While at the Monastery of Hilandar, the male members of the group participated in all the daily services and continued their tour of the monastery’s surroundings, which are of immeasurable spiritual and historical significance. The Serbian students listened with enthusiasm to the 827-year history of the first Serbian schoolroom. They were deeply inspired as they observed the welcoming and diligent monastic brotherhood and the monastery buildings of extraordinary beauty and value. On their walk to the seashore, they followed the well-trodden paths once walked by Saints Simeon and Sava, among the olive trees and cypresses associated with Emperor Dušan, King Alexander Obrenović, King Peter I Karađorđević, and other illustrious figures of Serbian history. The students were particularly touched by their visit to the proskynitarion of the Most Holy “Three-Handed” Theotokos, built on the site where this wonder-working Hilandar icon and Abbess arrived in the mid-fifteenth century, as well as by a rest in the shade of Emperor Dušan’s still-fruitful olive tree dating from 1347. In the evening, a ceremonial reception was held for the students in the Synodikon, the monastery’s formal reception hall for distinguished guests, where they spoke with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Methodius, Abbot of Hilandar, and some members of the Hilandar brotherhood. Spending the night in the monastery guesthouse also left a profound impression on the students.
The crowning event of this year’s pilgrimage was the meeting with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Methodius, Abbot of the Holy Imperial Serbian Lavra of Hilandar on Mount Athos, at Hilandar’s Metochion of Kakovo. Upon arriving at the metochion, accompanied by the singing of the hymn “O Life-Giving Spring, Glorious Mary,” according to the version recorded by St. Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović, the students, their teachers, and accompanying members of the group visited the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring. They then learned more about the history of the metochion and toured the complex, surrounded by an extraordinary landscape offering a unique view of the summit of Mount Athos. During a several-hour conversation with Abbot Methodius of Hilandar, who had traveled from Mount Athos especially for the occasion, the young pilgrims asked numerous relevant questions about spirituality, contemporary challenges, and monastic life in the Garden of the Theotokos in general. Inspired by their profound experiences during the pilgrimage, which many students and teachers described as the most beautiful of their lives, they also took the opportunity to share their impressions and to sincerely thank the Abbot and the Hilandar brotherhood for their blessing and their efforts in making this special journey possible.
Abbot Methodius listened attentively to their impressions, expressed his great joy, and promised that this was only the beginning of the Holy Monastery of Hilandar’s already fruitful mission of working with children and young people. Yet another great blessing for the participants in this year’s pilgrimage, Abbot Methodius shared grapes from the vine of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, which had been blessed at Hilandar the day before, with the female students and their teachers. The gesture was met with delight and deep emotion. The gesture was met with delight and deep emotion. Towards the end of the gathering, a group photograph was taken, and everyone received commemorative gifts as an additional reward for their achievements in the literary competition and as a lasting reminder of this year’s visit to these great holy places.
The students were accompanied by teachers Aleksandra Kozić from Zemun Gymnasium, Stanka Matković and Miloš Arsić from the Mathematical Grammar School, and Maja Pavlović from Smederevo Gymnasium. Also taking part in the journey were Mirjana Katić, Principal of the Mathematical Grammar School, and Aleksandra Drakulić, a teacher at Nikola Tesla Primary School in Rakovica. The group’s guide was Dragan Jovanović of the Foundation of the Holy Monastery of Hilandar.
