which is located only eight kilometers from Gnjilan on the way to Uroševac the temple's glory - Holy Prophet Elijah - was celebrated yesterday.This holiday has a special significance for the locals who gathered in the church to celebrate the great Orthodox holiday together Priests Dragan Kojić and Boban Stojković served the liturgy in front of numerous believers from this and surrounding Serbian villages The doors of all hosts in Cernica were wide open for guests yesterday according to the old Serbian hospitality custom this holiday is an opportunity for the locals to gather again socialize and share joy with their friends but also to remember the difficult times they went through relatives who are temporarily working abroad We are very happy that today will be happy in our place" said Lazar Petrović from Cernica for Rtv Puls Dragan Petrović has been in Luxembourg with his family for 15 years He says that for this day one must always set aside time and be in one's birthplace "We are postponing all work in order to be free on August 2 Saint Ilija is calling us to gather and as long as we have the strength we will always return home on this day" apart from the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah has two more shrines that testify to the long presence of the Serbian people in these areas there are also the ruins of the Church of Saint Spas while a hundred meters away is the Church of Saint Petka once a large and lively village with about a hundred Serbian households RTV Puls *Downloading and publishing content from the Kontakt Plus radio portal is not allowed without citing the source Sign in In-depth Interviews with Authorities in Business, Pop Culture, Wellness, Social Impact, and Tech. We use interviews to draw out stories that are both empowering and actionable. Listen Integrity is who you are when no one is watching and that is so important in personal life and business life The naysayers will see you climb and will applaud your efforts As a part of our series about “dreamers who ignored the naysayers and did what others said was impossible” I had the pleasure of interviewing Cosmin Cernica Introducing 28 year-old Cosmin Cernica; Content Creator Fashion Icon & Exclusive Luxury Designer To The Elite Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit better Why do I always find it so difficult to talk about myself I work as a Social Media Consultant and Creative Director for some luxury lifestyle brands I love crafting beautiful content, and I share daily snippets with a loyal community of over 100K followers on my Instagram, @cosmincernica Are you working on any new or exciting projects now and sometimes I feel like the online medium is not enough; that’s why I’m working on a capsule collection of jewellery — to be more precise what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd OK, thank you for that. I’d like to jump to the main focus of this interview. Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us? What was your idea? What was the reaction of the naysayers? And how did you overcome that? In the end, how we’re all the naysayers proven wrong? :-) I always let the results speak for themselves. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that? That is 100% true and normal, and I am a strong believer that you need to surround yourself with positive people who will support you when it rains or when it shines. In my case, my husband, Robert, who is also my business partner, has been there for me since the beginning and helped me grow. I have vision and dreams, and I come up with creative concepts, but sometimes I need someone to ground and guide me, and he is definitely the one. I will always be grateful for that. It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us? I didn’t have thick skin when I was younger, quite the opposite. I was sensitive and an introvert. I grew up in a homophobic environment, and I faced bullying since primary school — it was one of the reasons I wanted to move to London and live my freedom and build my own life the way I wanted. It was difficult, but I know for sure those times shaped me into the strong, resilient man I am today. Based on your experience, can you share five strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible? (Please share a story or an example for each) First is intention. It is important to dream big and stick to your plan and direction no matter what. For example, since I was in high school and people asked me what I want to do in life, I always said Marketing. Even though nowadays most of my business is in Social Media, it’s still a major part of the Marketing mix. The point is, I have never changed my mind about what I wanted to do in life, no matter how challenging the journey was. Second, don’t follow trends. Go in the opposite direction…because by the time the rest of the people realize the potential, you are already way ahead of the game and become a leader in that field. Be consistent and have integrity. Integrity is who you are when no one is watching, and that is so important in personal life and business life. The naysayers will see you climb and will applaud your efforts. Oh, and I almost forgot, but this is one of my ‘top strategies’ : always go with your gut feeling! You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this Candice Georgiadis is an active mother of three as well as a designer, founder, social media expert, and philanthropist. Help This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page “He was a prayerful and merciful Saint and a wonderworker during his lifetime as he healed many sick people,” Patriarch Daniel said about Saint Callinicus on his feast day at Cernica Monastery Saint Callinicus is one of the patron saints of the monastic settlement near Bucharest Callinicus “a teacher of unceasing prayer.” Regardless of his activity the saint kept saying the Jesus Prayer: Lord “He was not only a man of prayer but also of action He was an excellent spiritual father and at the same time a very fierce abbot.” “He was appreciated by the ruler prince of Wallachia who insistently asked him to accept to be bishop of Râmnic because the Diocese of Râmnic was in a difficult condition,” Patriarch Daniel stressed “He asked to be buried in the porch of Cernica monastery’s church Patriarch Justinian Marina proposed in 1950 to the Holy Synod that Saint Callinicus be canonized “The proclamation of canonization took place in 1955 Then his bones became relics and were moved from the church porch inside the church.” Recalling the popularity of Saint Callinicus the Romanian Patriarch said that the saint was “an icon of Romanian monasticism.” “We consider that he is also a model of a good Romanian He was a supporter of the Union of Romanian Principalities; he valued education and culture,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said The Patriarch asked Saint Callinicus of Cernica “to give us his strong faith the Church commemorates Saint John Climacus which is considered a spiritual life textbook it was read in monasteries for the guidance of monks but then it began to be read by believers and laypeople who fast and pray a lot,” Patriarch Daniel noted “He shows us how people can free themselves from selfish passions and how they can acquire virtues and essential virtues in his book are humility and love For humility is the valid proof of holiness.” just as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36).” The Patriarch of Romania also offered his reflections on the Sunday gospel passage about the Healing of the Lunatic Child (Mark 9:17-32) focusing on the importance of prayer united with fasting he humbles himself and can concentrate more while praying to God They turn physical hunger and thirst into hunger and thirst for God.” but through prayer is filled with the Holy Spirit.” “And because the Holy Spirit comes in the person who prays fervently in a state of fasting and humility unclean spirits are afraid of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the humble person.” these spirits go out from the possessed man Unclean demons fear only the Holy Spirit who dwells in humble and praying people and good Spirit,” Patriarch Daniel explained The Divine Liturgy on the feast day was celebrated by His Grace Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploieşti The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate approved on October 4th the canonization of Eldress Sophia Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew traveled by air to Antalya the Patriarchate of Jerusalem solemnly celebrated the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women... Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Theotokos.. it was announced that two Roman Catholic institutions in Bavaria have decided to jointly.. (function() { window.mc4wp = window.mc4wp || { listeners: [] cb) { window.mc4wp.listeners.push( { event : evt callback: cb } ); } } }})(); © 2023 OrthodoxTimes.com - All rights reserved Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website These cookies do not store any personal information Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website was greeted at the Romanian Settlement in Munich by Assistant Bishop Sofian of Brașov and many Christians dressed in folk costumes The joy was marked by a short artistic moment performed by the “Ciuleandra” Ensemble from Munich and “Datina” Ensemble from Traunreut Assistant Bishop Sofian officiated the Sacrament of the Holy Unction in the settlement’s church The liturgical program continued Saturday with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy where clergy of the sister Orthodox Churches in Germany concelebrated The service was attended by Claudiu Târziu chairman of the Senate’s Committee for Romanians Everywhere “Aware of both the persecution against the faith and of living away from home the Venerable George came today to visit us Romanians living in the diaspora at a distance to bring us comfort the Assistant Bishop to the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Germany the relics were taken to the parish of Saint Hierarch Nicholas and Saint George of Cernica in Hersbruck The pilgrimage continued on Sunday when the relics of Saint George of Cernica were taken to the Metropolitan Centre in Nuremberg Saint George was born in 1730 and became a monk on Mount Athos when he was a young man He was a disciple of Saint Paisius Velichkovsky (November 15) who was then the igumen of Vatopedi Monastery Since the skete at Cernica had been deserted for almost thirty years Metropolitan Gregory II of Wallachia asked Elder George to revive monastic life there according to the Athonite Typikon Saint George’s efforts at Cernica were so successful that Metropolitan Philaret II also entrusted him with leading the Caldarusani Monastery Life at both monasteries followed the Athonite-Paisian hesychastic tradition Saint George was glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 2005 His holy relics are in the Cernica Monastery Patriarch Daniel of Romania on Sunday inaugurated three facilities at Cernica Monastery including a memorial house of St George of Cernica and Caldarusani The persons who contributed to the restoration and modernization works received church distinctions as a sign of appreciation and gratitude from the Patriarch of Romania The spaces blessed on the fourth Sunday of Lent will become accessible to the public when the quarantine restrictions will be lifted extensive renovation and endowment works were carried out at the monastery’s museum A refectory for pilgrims was set up in the basement The museum spaces were rearranged; alarm systems the entire museum collection was reorganized The museum’s collection includes liturgical objects One of the important pieces of the collection is the Chrysobull (golden bull) issued on May 29 which strengthens the donations that Cernica Ştirbei gave to the monastery The building that became a Memorial House of Saint George of Cernica was built during the stewardship of St the building went through restoration and endowment works The exhibits were rearranged to highlight the spiritual personality of the holy Elder George but also the spiritual heritage of Saint Paisius Velichkovsky Bright Monday marked the 125th birth anniversary of Queen Mother Helen the grandmother of Her Majesty Crown Princess Margareta the Custodian of the Romanian Crown and His Royal Highness Prince Radu attended a memorial service officiated at Cernica Monastery The memorial service was officiated by the monastery’s abbot Chanting at the chant stand was the Tronos Byzantine Choir of the Patriarchal Cathedral with the rank of Princess of Greece and Denmark She was the eldest daughter of King Constantine I of Greece and Queen Sophia of Prussia “My mother’s relatives thought about God more than all the people I knew but through their faith,” King Michael remembered in an interview given to writer Mircea Ciobanu Between 1924 and 1930 she was Regent of the Throne she lived for four decades at Villa Sparta in Florence where King Michael spent his summer holidays Queen Helen received the title of “Righteous among the Nations” for rescuing Jews from deportation to Nazi extermination camps In the same interview given to the writer Mircea Ciobanu and published in the volume Conversations with King Michael I of Romania Queen Elena: “Talking to my mother meant more to me than many theology books.” the Queen was reburied at the New Archdiocesan Cathedral at Curtea de Argeș After celebrating the Divine Liturgy at the monastery’s St Nicholas Church the Patriarch officiated a blessing service for the restored building named after Nifon Rusaila Patriarch Daniel offered church distinctions to all those who were involved in the restoration works His Beatitude referred to the cultural and social activities that will take place at Metropolitan Nifon House The building will also be used for organizing agape meals Source: basilica.ro Cernica Monastery has the best-organized cemetery in the Archdiocese of Bucharest The cemetery won the First Prize at the Diocesan Contest “The Well-Organized Cemetery” initiated and blessed by Patriarch Daniel of Romania The cemeteries of Bucharest’s parishes of St George – Grivița and Saint Elijah – Ghencea ranked second Roșu Parish in Ilfov County and the 1st Militari Parish in Bucharest received the third prize The five cemeteries above received the Honorary Diploma of the Holy Emperors Constantine and Helen special awards consisting of the Honorary Diplomas “Saint Andrew the Apostle” were bestowed to St Nicholas – Străulești Diocesan Cemetery in the Capital and Lipănești Parish Cemetery in Prahova County because they stood out for their exemplary cleanliness and care The contest was part of the Commemorative theme of the year of those asleep in the Lord; the liturgical and cultural value of cemeteries The contest aimed at highlighting and rewarding clergy and monastic staff involved in the responsible administration of parish or monastery cemeteries and at encouraging the beautification The designation of the winners was made based on a score It was made by evaluators based on the file submitted by the parishes and monasteries (containing the cemetery’s history photos) and based on its confrontation with reality through on-site inspections as well as the way they are being taken care of was taken into account the cemeteries in Bucharest are well organized,” said Father Dumitru Stefanescu church administrative counselor at the Archdiocese of Bucharest “The Commission recommended that the cleaning be maintained and that the construction materials should no longer be stored at random A common problem encountered in most cemeteries is related to the condition of the access roads which are often improperly repaired; it was recommended that at least the primary and secondary alleys be completely resurfaced or re-paved The Commission also found that parishes and monasteries have made efforts to care for and systematize cemeteries in the current Commemorative Year Analyzing the submitted documentation and the proposals of each deanery after verifying the actual situation on the ground 32 prizes were awarded for parishes and three awards for monasteries 35 prizes were awarded within the Archdiocese of Bucharest At the proposal of Patriarch Daniel and based on information from the deans the archdiocese awarded the Commemorative Diploma of the Year 2021 with a medal to three institutions and 59 people who contributed to the establishment and to the building or restoration of monuments dedicated to the national heroes or personalities of national history and culture 105 church awards were given at the first edition of the diocesan contest “The well-organized cemetery.” In order to increase the degree of responsible administration of the parish/monastery cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Bucharest the second edition of this competition will take place in three years Their total area is 4,346,095 square meters University of Notre Dame Notre Dame Magazine The village of Cernica lies in a little valley in southern Kosovo surrounded by brown scrub-covered hills and barely noticeable from the potholed main road that passes about a mile away its red-tiled roofs and its adjoining patchwork of fields it looks like just another quiet if somewhat battered Balkan village Cernica is one of the more violent places in the province split between Serbs and ethnic Albanians whose attachment to the place is rivaled only by their animosity toward each other Cernica is a concentrated version of Kosovo itself where the ongoing conflict between Serbs and ethnic Albanians frustrates Western efforts to establish a lasting peace arrived in Cernica hoping he could make a difference Schroeder’s platoon was sent to Kosovo in March 2000 to join the 7,000-strong American peacekeeping force in the province The platoon’s job was to live in Cernica and curb the violence They hoped to nudge Cernica a step closer to real peace “We felt it was kind of our collective responsibility here in town,” Schroeder said one day rat-infested house in the center of the village “If they’re going to take the time to deploy us for six months has been under NATO and United Nations control since peacekeeping troops entered the province in June 1999 after an 11-week NATO bombing campaign against Serbia The intervention ended a decade of Serbian repression against Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority but it also created new problems that the peacekeepers have wrestled with ever since Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians immediately turned upon local Serbs who make up about 10 percent of the population The NATO troops have not been able to stop them Schroeder and his 37 men decided that peace was impossible in the village as long as it remained divided Serbs and ethnic Albanians spoke different languages bought their groceries at different stores and rarely if ever spoke to each other They lived in the same village but inhabited separate and mutually hostile worlds The soldiers knew they could not expect Serbs and ethnic Albanians to suddenly become friends But they might begin talking to each other again The soldiers did routine peacekeeping stuff But they also did things aimed at earning the villagers’ trust They booted around old soccer balls with the children They helped families rebuild houses that had been burned by Serbian security forces in 1999 They put their extra rations in the back of a Humvee and distributed them to the poor If the villagers could be persuaded to cooperate with the soldiers maybe they could be persuaded to cooperate with each other Schroeder spent much of his time visiting people and trying to solve their problems assault rifle hanging from a clip at his shoulder — he made an impressive figure A member of the Army’s elite 101st Airborne Division he had been trained to swoop into battle on a Chinook or Blackhawk helicopter and destroy the enemy “It’s pretty much on-the-job training,” he said strolling through the village one afternoon Schroeder seemed more like the mayor of Cernica than an infantry commander He chatted with two Serb grandmothers who sat outside a house smiling and speaking in their own language “Kako ste?” In an Albanian neighborhood nearby accepting the traditional gesture of Balkan hospitality Farther on he looked in on a poor family that lived in a windowless wood hut with a dirt floor The platoon was trying to get the family a new house he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in South Bend “My grandfather landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day,” he said but they did what they felt was their part for the good of the country Schroeder’s first goal in Cernica was to arrange a meeting between its Serb and ethnic Albanian leaders But neither persuasion nor stratagem worked Schroeder and his men decided to shift their focus They began asking ordinary Serbs and ethnic Albanians to identify old acquaintances on the other side Then they quietly went about trying to set up a rendezvous and all the good will of the United States Army could not sweep it aside as the soldiers prepared to return to the United States they had to confront the question of just what they had accomplished and they felt sure that their efforts had made it a better place (A house blew up the night they left.) And Cernica was no less divided than when they arrived He had learned a lesson that many American soldiers have learned in Kosovo about the limits of peacekeeping He had brought to it more than a little determination and hope was no match for the stern realities of a Kosovo village “We had loftier aspirations for this place,” he reflected just a few days before departing Maybe we didn’t really know what we were getting into.” Richard Mertens has reported extensively from the Balkans The magazine welcomes comments, but we do ask that they be on topic and civil. Read our full comment policy Notre Dame Magazine © 2025 University of Notre Dame Cosmin Cernica is a passionate story teller He carefully curates his Instagram with over 80K followers (@cosmincernica) travels the world and designs precious men’s accessorises for royal faces We caught up with Cosmin to discover his favourite London haunts love the romantic candle lit atmosphere and the bar downstairs for late night cocktails with my friends Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.