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Next Stop for the Heart to Heart Festival: Serbia


From Heart To Heart Festival goes on. This year, residents of London, Dublin, and Berlin have had the opportunity to get to know about this project and participate in it. The visitors of the 62nd International Book Fair in Belgrade will also be able to learn about the beauty of the Orthodox faith, culture, and traditions in just a fortnight, on October 22.

The sisters are excited and thrilled as they anticipate their trip to Serbia. The fact that our countries share the same faith and have similar cultural traditions, combined with the usual joy of meeting our numerous Serbian friends, makes the festival in Belgrade even more exciting.


A presentation of three books from the series Word of the Spiritual Father, which contain excerpts from the sermons and talks by Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok translated into Serbian for the first time, will be the featured event at the Festival. These books were published by the Publishing House of St Elisabeth Convent. They consist of answers to the most frequently asked questions of the parishioners with regard to various aspects of spiritual life. There will be a meeting with the author, the Very Rev Andrew Lemeshonok, within the frameworks of the presentation, which will culminate in an autograph signing.


The visitors will also be able to participate in a new festival workshop session on the art of calligraphy. Everybody will have the chance to visit a scriptorium, learn the basic skills of writing Church Slavonic letters under the guidance of an experienced scribe, as well as to learn about the history of the written culture on the territory of Belarus. The workshop sessions will be held daily on the festival days based on popular demand. A calligraphy class will last 1-2 hours depending on the prior skills of the participants.

Another traditional but no less interesting and useful workshop session will teach the visitors how to make stone icons. The participants will acquire basic techniques of making icons using powdered semi-precious gemstones and minerals and will make a complete landscape or still life to take home after the session.

Here is an outline of other sections of the Holy Russia: From Heart To Heart Festival in Serbia:


- The Belarusian Hut is a historical and cultural exposition that will give an insight into the everyday life of the Belarusians in the early 20th century.

- A Photo Exhibition about the ministry of St Elisabeth Convent will inform the visitors about the social outreach projects carried out by the sisters.

- Books published by the Publishing House of St Elisabeth Convent: children’s books, religious books, and fiction.

- Sale of items made with love and prayer in the Icon Painting Studio, Audio and Video Studio in honour of St John the Warrior, icon casing, ceramic, sewing, stone icons workshops of the Convent.


- Presentations and films produced by St Elisabeth Convent will be shown during the entire Festival.

From Heart To Heart Festival is not just an opportunity to spend time in a cosy family-like atmosphere with a cup of delicious herbal tea, or to enjoy watching kind and edifying films, visiting workshop sessions, exhibitions, and talks, but also a chance to contribute to charity. All proceeds from the Festival will fund social projects of St Elisabeth Convent.




The stands of St Elisabeth Convent at the 62nd International Book Fair in Belgrade will be located at: Bulevar vojvode Mišića, 14, hall 4, 11000 Belgrade. We are looking forward to meeting you there!


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