Written by: Catechist Branislav Ilić, Editor of the “Kinonia” Portal
The fifth Sunday of Great Lent, 24 March / 6 April 2025, marked seventy years from the blessed repose of Saint Irinej, Bishop of Bačka and Confessor of the Faith. This festive day and the seventieth anniversary of the saint’s transition from death to life inspire us once again to contemplate the mystery of his personality—a saint whose holy life offers us guidance that direct our own spiritual path.
A brief overview of the saint’s life
Ivan Ćirić was born in 1884 in Sremski Karlovci, where he completed primary school in 1894. He graduated from the gymnasium in Novi Sad in 1902, the Moscow Theological Academy in 1906, and the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Vienna in 1908. He was tonsured into monasticism during the Forefeast of the Nativity in 1908, at the Hopovo Monastery on Fruška Gora. He was given the monastic name Irinej by Archimandrite Dr. Avgustin (Bošnjaković), after the Holy Priest-Martyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons. On the Feast of the Nativity, Serbian Patriarch Lukijan (Bogdanović) ordained the young monk Irinej to the diaconate.
In April 1909, he was appointed librarian of the Patriarchal Library in Sremski Karlovci. That same year, in September, he was elected as an assistant professor in Old Testament with Archaeology and Hebrew at the Seminary of Saint Arsenije of Srem in Sremski Karlovci. In addition to teaching at the Seminary, Father Irinej also taught religious education during the 1911/12 academic year at the renowned Karlovci Gymnasium. His inaugural lecture, “Contemporary Scholarly Theories on the Origins of the Pentateuch,” drew particular attention. He would later become an associate and then full professor at the Seminary, a post he held until his election as Bishop of Timok in 1919.
The Hierarchical Assembly of the unified Serbian Church elected him Bishop of Timok on 23 May / 5 June 1919. In Sremski Karlovci, Bishop Georgije (Letić) of Timișoara ordained Archdeacon Irinej as a hieromonk and subsequently elevated him to the rank of archimandrite. He was consecrated Bishop of Timok by Metropolitan Dimitrije of Serbia, together with Bishops Varnava (Rosić) of Veles-Debar, Dositej of Niš, Dr. Nikolaj (Velimirović) of Žiča, and Ilarion (Zeremski), Vicar Bishop of Srem and Karlovci, at the Holy Archangel Cathedral in Belgrade on 15 June 1919. He was enthroned in the episcopal see of Timok on 1 August 1919 in Zaječar. Though his episcopal service in the Diocese of Timok lasted only two years (1919–1921), Bishop Irinej left a deep and lasting impression in the eastern parts of our land. During the absence of Bishop Dositej of Niš, Bishop Irinej also administered the Diocese of Niš. In the Diocese of Timok, he initiated both spiritual and material renewal, tending the Lord’s vineyard entrusted to him with wisdom, love, and self-sacrifice. Many testimonies bear witness to the deep love that clergy and faithful expressed toward their bishop, who guided all with fatherly affection. In addition to spiritual and material restoration, Bishop Irinej paid particular attention to the reestablishment of liturgical order and ecclesiastical beauty.
On 11 September 1921, the Holy Assembly of Bishops accepted Bishop Irinej’s request and elected him Bishop of Bačka. Hieromonk Dr. Emilijan (Piperković) was elected Bishop of Timok in his place. Bishop Irinej was enthroned in Novi Sad on 9 February 1922. He was one of the most eminent bishops of his time. By decision of the Holy Assembly of Bishops, he was repeatedly appointed as a member of the Holy Synod, and was entrusted with the administration of various dioceses:
In Niš, Vršac, Banat (twice), and Timișoara. Bishop Irinej (Ćirić) of Bačka, a distinguished theologian and a diplomat of a kind, also served the Holy Church on a worldwide scale, always having Christ as his Guide and Inspirer. During his earthly life, he preached the word of God in London, Glasgow, Oxford, Paris, Bern, Stockholm, Vienna, Avignon, Sofia, and Constantinople. Despite the fact that he confessed and proclaimed the Name of Christ to the four corners of the world, during the Second World War, although he outwardly seemed to be abasing himself—he stood countless times for the interests of his people wherever he found himself, pleading and begging that the crimes committed on the territory of Bačka in 1941 and 1942 would cease.
Despite his continued martyrdom, Bishop Irinej was unjustly subjected to house arrest, in which he remained until his repose, bearing witness to his faith and remaining faithful to Christ until the end. He reposed in Novi Sad on the eve of the Annunciation in 1955, and his holy body was buried on the day of the Annunciation in the crypt of the Cathedral Church of Saint George in Novi Sad, where it lay until the Year of the Lord 2022, when his holy relics were discovered and placed in the Novi Sad Cathedral Church for veneration by the faithful. At its regular session held in Sremski Karlovci and Belgrade from May 15 to 21, 2022, the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church added Saint Irinej (Ćirić), Bishop of Bačka and Confessor of the Faith, to the diptych of saints. The Fathers of the Assembly appointed March 24 / April 6 as the day of liturgical commemoration of the newly-glorified saint.
A Teacher of Asceticism
Saint Irinej, Bishop of Bačka and Confessor of the Faith, is a saint in whose person nearly all the epithets of sainthood are represented. He is a confessor but also a martyr. By his ascetic labours and monastic ethos, he became like the venerable fathers. With the strength of his faith, he appears as a victor who overcomes sin and the darkness of sin through God’s power. He is a God-bearer because Christ was the measure of his life. He is a healer, for with pastoral care and love he healed human souls, and through intercessory prayer, he continues to do so to this day. He is equal to the apostles, for he zealously and tirelessly spread the Good News of Christ’s Gospel. We could list more, but it is enough to say that Saint Irinej is a saint who actualized with his holy life the words of the Apostle Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
We are called to follow the example of this newly-revealed saint, to fill our being with Christ and the eternal teaching of the Gospel by emulating him, and to make love the imperative of our lives. Saint Bishop Irinej teaches us to see the image of God in every person, to forgive everyone, for the Lord, stretching His arms on the Cross, embraced both the wicked and the good. Contemporary man has become estranged from the virtue of forgiveness. Modern man forgets that the path to the Lord leads through communion with one’s neighbour—and every person is our neighbour. This wise saint invites us to drink from the wisdom of the Gospel and overcome pride and egotism, to transform our proud “I” into the most beautiful “you,” in order to prepare our souls for an encounter with the Lord. Saint Bishop Irinej, as a good shepherd, knocks on the doors of our hearts and kneels before us, beseeching that peace reign within and among us. The saint calls us to peace, for he kept the vow of the holy Apostle Paul, who said to the Christians in Corinth: “Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11). Saint Irinej calls us to manifest our faith through deeds of love and readiness for ascetic labour. Today, the greatest ascetic feat is to persevere in love, and love is the virtue of virtues and the foundation of our entire existence.
As a hierarch, Saint Irinej was, and remains to this day, a God-inspired teacher of asceticism. The nourishment of those who strive in Christ is joy. Joy feeds their soul, spirit, and mind so that they may ascend and surrender themselves to God. Christian asceticism is an affirmative movement of the being that culminates in authentic communion with God and one’s neighbour. This is what Saint Bishop Irinej teaches us with his holy life and blessed example, whose sacred memory we celebrate annually during the revered days of Great Lent. The example of this newly-glorified saint reminds us that through true asceticism, self-love and egotism—the greatest enemies of salvation—are overcome through the synergistic and unforced cooperation between God and man. The word “asceticism” is akin to the word “to move,” which means not to remain spiritually stagnant, but to grow and develop. Everyone is capable of achieving this—and that is precisely what is required of a Christian. The great Dostoevsky once said: “Many think about how to live, but only a few consider the purpose of life.” The purpose of our life is to be inwardly transformed, to begin to resemble the Lord. Saint Irinej teaches us through his life that ascetic labour involves taking up the cross, confronting one’s weaknesses, and embracing a new life in Christ. An ascetic is anyone who battles evil in the world in the name of Christ. Therefore, asceticism is not a demand placed only upon monastics, but equally upon all Christians. All Christians are, without exception—according to the words of Saint Justin the Philosopher—called to prepare their bodies for eternal life even through physical ascetic labour.
Let us pray to Saint Irinej, Bishop of Bačka and Confessor of the Faith, that through his intercession before the Lord, he may illumine all the dark corners of our being, lead us to true repentance, and teach us to fight the good fight, so that together with him we may glorify the Lord, Who is Holy above all.