Members of the Serbian Armed Forces Swam for the Holy Theophany Cross
Saturday, 19.1.2019 | News
The Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, Lieutenant General Milan Mojsilović, attended the swimming for the Holy Theophany Cross today.
The event was organized by the Association of Inventors “Soko Savamala” with the support of the Ministry of Defence and the City Municipality of Savski Venac on the occasion of the great Christian holiday, the Theophany.
Minister Vulin congratulated today's holiday with the traditional Christian greeting “God Revealed!”
He also expressed satisfaction of having the honour to stand before the swimmers who are keeping this tradition of ours, which has made us a nation worthy of repeating.
– Today you do not merely show that you are brave, prepared to sacrifice, that you are ready to demonstrate by personal example the values that you cherish and love so much, but also that you are members of a brave, stubborn and persistent nation, of a people able to produce offspring, and such offspring that is worthy of admiration – said Minister Vulin, addressing the contestants before swimming for the Holy Theophany Cross.
He went on to say that today they will prove and demonstrate how mightier the spirit is than the body, and that there is no insurmountable obstacle for those believing and faithful, when they are convinced in the value of what they are doing; he wished that today’ weather and all the gathered people might be “a good omen” and a sign that a good year is before us.
Following the jump from the river patrol ship Jadar to the Sava River, Danilo Andrijašević was the first to swim the 33-meter track symbolically representing Jesus' years. Minister Vulin handed him his prize, the Orthodox cross.
At this year's competition at the Sava Promenade, members of the Serbian Armed Forces participated. Lieutenant Nebojša Marković of the Guard pointed out that this was not his first participation in the swimming for the Theophany Cross and that this was a magnificent act for him, while Lieutenant Slobodan Draksimović of the 126th ASEWG Brigade emphasized that he was happy to have participated as he was the second to swim to the Holy Theophany Cross.
Right at noon, traditional swimming for the Holy Theophany Cross at Ada Ciganlija started, and among the 55 participants, there were also cadets of the Military Academy, members of the Gendarmerie, Svibor society and others.
The Holy Theophany Cross on Ada Ciganlija, floated, symbolically, a 33-meter long track, announcing the beginning of the main part of the event. Pavle Dragišić, who was ceremonially presented with the Holy Theophany Cross and the victorious cloak, was the first to reach the Theophany Cross on Ada, and in the past two years, the winning post belonged to the cadets of the Military Academy.
Swimming was preceded by the Holy Liturgy at St. George's Church on Banovo Brdo, as well as a procession, which is traditionally attended by the cadets of the Military Academy, this time led by Captain Slaviša Jotić.
On the occasion of the Theophany, a great Christian holiday, hundreds of members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces swam today for the Holy Theophany Cross or participated in the organization of this traditional manifestation, in 29 locations across Serbia.
