September 27th, 2009 - At the New Gracanica Monastery, a Hierarchal Liturgy was served on the Feastday of the Elevation of the Holy Cross. Bishop Longin served, accompanied by seven priests and four deacons. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Bishop Longin gave a sermon in which he spoke of the very event of the finding and elevation of the Holy Cross by Empress Helen and Emperor Constantine in the fourth century, but also about the importance for each one of us of carrying our own cross, or rather of struggling against sin, passions and anything else that might separate us from the love of God.
After the sermon, Bishop Longin gave the pectoral cross to Protopresbyter Lazar Kostur after fourty years of faithful service to Christ's Church, or in other words, on the fourtieth anniversary of his ordination.