Yesterday, in the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije presented the Order of Saint Sava of the second degree to Borko Milošev from Allentown, Pennsylvania, as a recognition for his many years of selfless help in the construction of the Temple of Saint Nectarios of Aegina, in Subotica, and for the love he shows for the Church on all occasions.

After the presentation of the Order, Patriarch Porfirije congratulated Milošev and said that life should be a continuous service to God and that the Order of Saint Sava was, on the one hand, the smallest expression of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s gratitude to someone who had been striving with his whole being to serve God and live in accordance with God’s commandments and the Gospel.

– On the other hand, it is an expression of gratitude to the one who, out of his love for God, works as hard as a Christian as he can, if God has given him the means, to decorate God’s temple – said the Serbian Patriarch.

His Holiness stated that Subotica church community had recognized Milošev as someone who had been fulfilling God’s commandment of love and who had been working hard on life in the Church, personal life, family life, and also on helping the church community in Subotica assembled around the Temple of Saint Nectarios.

Patriarch Porfirije said that Milošev, although living in America, remained spiritually present in the area of his descent and birth, and pointed out that it was important for a man far from his homeland to preserve the awareness of his national origin, of his being a Serb.

The Serbian Patriarch noted the danger of generations coming into the new world looking for other contexts, in the absence of their true spiritual roots.

– As a consequence, not only does it happen that they then forget where they came from, but they often forget or break ties with their parents as well, because this new quasi-spiritual form becomes their family, meaning and everything else – said Patriarch Porfirije.

This high church recognition was awarded to Milošev at the suggestion of His Eminence, Bishop Irinej of Bačka, announced the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The presentation ceremony was attended by members of the Holy Synod of Bishops: Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral, and Bishops Vasilije of Srem, Irinej of Bačka and Fotije of Zvornik and Tuzla.

Borko Milošev, a native of Subotica, graduated from the University of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in mathematics and financial economics as a student of the generation; until 2013 he worked as an investment banker in New York; and then founded his own investment firm in Pennsylvania.

Milošev has been very active in humanitarian activities, helping his people in Serbia, and especially the Serbian Orthodox Church through the Save the Displaced Serbs humanitarian organization of Serbs from the USA and numerous donations to Subotica and Belgrade hospitals and temples.

Source: RTRS-SRNA

Photo: Serbian Orthodox Church (spc.rs)