The members of the Kingdom of Serbia Association from all over Serbia marked the Statehood Day of Serbia, “Sretenje”, 15 February 2020.
Members of the Association attended the Holy Orthodox Liturgy in the church in Orasac, served by His Grace Bishop of Šumadija g. Jovan, and then, together with our friends from the Ravnogorski Movement, paid tribute to the Supreme leader Karadjordje and his heroic soldiers, in the Marićevića jaruga, the place where the First Serbian Uprising was started.
Later that day, the members of the Association welcomed at Oplenac the emissary of HRH Crown Prince Alexander, Mr. Predrag Markovic, member of the Crown Council, who laid the wreath at the tomb of the founder of the Karadjordjevic dynasty. On behalf of the Association, the wreath was placed by Mr. Sasa Susic, President of the KS, and members of Managing and Executive Board. The ceremony was also attended by HRH Prince Michael.
On this occasion, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander congratulated the citizens of Serbia the Statehood Day:
“Today we celebrate Sretenje (Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord), the Statehood Day of Serbia, as a memorial to the day when the First Serbian Uprising was initiated at the assembly in Orasac in 1804, and the day when the First Constitution of the Principality of Serbia was brought in Kragujevac in 1835.
On Sretenje in 1804, the most prominent Serbs agreed to elect my great-great-great-grandfather Karadjordje as leader of the uprising, and at the Sretenje Assembly in 1835, the first constitution of Serbia, one of the most modern, most democratic and liberal constitutions of its time, was adopted.
I am immensely proud of our great ancestors, but I also feel a tremendous responsibility for their magnificent achievement, the restoration of the Serbian state.
Their courage and willingness to do great things should be our inspiration and support. Two centuries ago, times were certainly much more difficult than they are today, and our nation’s fathers certainly faced infinitely greater obstacles than those before us today, but nineteenth-century Serbia’s history was filled with brilliant successes and shining historical moments, as certainly were the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising and the adoption of the Sretenje Constitution.
Remembering the Meeting of the Lord of 1804 and wishing all of us to always celebrate this day as unified citizens of Serbia and the whole world, I congratulate our great feast. Long live Serbia!”, said HRH Crown Prince Alexander in his message.
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