On the feast day of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, Serbian Patriarch Porphyry urged Orthodox faithful to strengthen within themselves living faith, prayer, and spiritual effort, according to the website of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The patriarch delivered his sermon during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Panteleimon in the Belgrade district of Mirijevo, addressing congregants gathered for the church’s patronal celebration.

Drawing on the Gospel account of Christ healing a sick young man, Patriarch Porphyry said the episode underscores that the foundation of a person’s life should not be confidence in one’s own strength, but trust in God.

“Faith is not merely acknowledging that God exists. Faith is trust in His love and His providence,” the patriarch said, adding that the words of the sick young man’s father, “Lord, have mercy,” express not only a request for help but a wholehearted reliance on God.

The patriarch emphasized that where true faith is present, Christ becomes a source of healing, peace, and spiritual fullness.

Special attention, he said, should be given to Christ’s words about faith “like a mustard seed,” explaining that this refers to living faith—faith capable of growth and bearing fruit. In his remarks, he highlighted that the roots of such faith are prayer, fasting, and spiritual striving.

“Without faith, without fasting, without prayer, without spiritual effort, there is no real spiritual life,” Patriarch Porphyry stated.

He also clarified that fasting is not only a restriction in food, but above all self-work and purification of the heart. Prayer, he added, is not simply asking God for favors, but living communion with Him.

In conclusion, the patriarch spoke about Saint Panteleimon, whose memory the Church commemorates on the day. He noted that the saint was a learned physician who regarded his medical calling as a gift from God. According to Patriarch Porphyry, Panteleimon healed people in Christ’s name and did not abandon his faith even in the face of suffering—offering a lasting example of complete trust in God and readiness to remain faithful to Christ at any cost.

The Church of Saint Panteleimon in Mirijevo was built in the early 2000s with the blessing of the then-Serbian Patriarch Paul. Born in Nicomedia, Panteleimon was a physician remembered for mercy and care for the sick, and in Orthodox tradition is revered as a healer because healing is ultimately seen as the work of divine grace.