On October 30th Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic, Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, died from a COVID-19 infection. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus on October 6th and had been hospitalised in the Clinical Center of Montenegro, which is in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica, since then. On October 9th he offered the following message from the hospital:
"The Holy Bishop Nikolai, who gave a famous speech in Lovćen during the transfer of the relics of Peter II to the Mausoleum of Lovćen, after the demolition of the Church of Saint Peter by the Austro-Hungarian occupiers in 1916, said, among other things, that God cares for children and the sick. God gave the Archbishop of Cetinje a cross to carry. Indeed, the Archbishop of Cetinje is trying to carry his cross and the cross of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral. The Metropolitanate of Montenegro is participating in this disease with the sufferings of millions of people around the world, all the way to US President Donald Trump.
Participating in carrying that cross of the whole world, is also the Metropolitan today, thank God. I partook of the Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ on the feast of Saint John the Theologian, the apostle of love, from whom we learned Christ's words that the two main commandments are: love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love as a principle of human life. And it is precisely, I would say, that God sent suffering to humanity to heal it from hatred, from self-conceit, from egoism, from selfishness, so that humanity would understand that we are still people who are weak and powerless on earth, and that it is only God who gives true life, not just this transient life from today to tomorrow. Such sufferings are reminiscent of human dignity, eternal and imperishable dignity, because man is a being created for eternity, not for transience and nothingness. God uses these means to remind us that death is not the last word of this life, but only a preparation for what is eternal and imperishable - for the eternal Kingdom of the God of love - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In that name, I greet and bless all those who care about my health, asking them to take care of the health of all those who suffer, not only here in the hospital in Montenegro but all over the world.
It is universal suffering that has reigned today and I pray to the Lord that God will forgive the sins of all people and bring us back to ourselves and to each other and eternal values, the secret of eternal life, to diminish suffering because it is not easy to carry this suffering and what is happening today. May the blessing of the Lord be on everyone, especially on those who remember me too, because I see that there are many people from different parts who remember and pray for me, and thank you for their prayers. We hope in the Lord that we will continue our work and that this is a preparation for the continuation of the work, God willing. God's blessing to all, and many years!"
"The Holy Bishop Nikolai, who gave a famous speech in Lovćen during the transfer of the relics of Peter II to the Mausoleum of Lovćen, after the demolition of the Church of Saint Peter by the Austro-Hungarian occupiers in 1916, said, among other things, that God cares for children and the sick. God gave the Archbishop of Cetinje a cross to carry. Indeed, the Archbishop of Cetinje is trying to carry his cross and the cross of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral. The Metropolitanate of Montenegro is participating in this disease with the sufferings of millions of people around the world, all the way to US President Donald Trump.
Participating in carrying that cross of the whole world, is also the Metropolitan today, thank God. I partook of the Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ on the feast of Saint John the Theologian, the apostle of love, from whom we learned Christ's words that the two main commandments are: love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love as a principle of human life. And it is precisely, I would say, that God sent suffering to humanity to heal it from hatred, from self-conceit, from egoism, from selfishness, so that humanity would understand that we are still people who are weak and powerless on earth, and that it is only God who gives true life, not just this transient life from today to tomorrow. Such sufferings are reminiscent of human dignity, eternal and imperishable dignity, because man is a being created for eternity, not for transience and nothingness. God uses these means to remind us that death is not the last word of this life, but only a preparation for what is eternal and imperishable - for the eternal Kingdom of the God of love - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In that name, I greet and bless all those who care about my health, asking them to take care of the health of all those who suffer, not only here in the hospital in Montenegro but all over the world.
It is universal suffering that has reigned today and I pray to the Lord that God will forgive the sins of all people and bring us back to ourselves and to each other and eternal values, the secret of eternal life, to diminish suffering because it is not easy to carry this suffering and what is happening today. May the blessing of the Lord be on everyone, especially on those who remember me too, because I see that there are many people from different parts who remember and pray for me, and thank you for their prayers. We hope in the Lord that we will continue our work and that this is a preparation for the continuation of the work, God willing. God's blessing to all, and many years!"