Students Did Not Spend the Night in the Monastery of Studenica
In light of recent media reports, we issue the following clarification: students did not spend the night in the Monastery of Studenica.
The monastery guesthouse, under the care of the brotherhood, was not used for student accommodation. The individuals in question were lodged in private facilities nearby that, without authorization, operate under the name “Monastery Studenica.”
The Monastery of Studenica is not a hotel, a hostel, or a tourist lodging. It is a UNESCO-protected sanctuary, consecrated to prayer, repentance, and the spiritual life of the Church.
Any claim to the contrary misleads the faithful and the wider public and diminishes the dignity of one of the holiest treasures of our people.
Studenica Monastery is not a hotel – it is a sanctuary of eternity
In recent days, reports have circulated that groups of students stayed “at the Monastery of Studenica.” In reality, they were accommodated in commercial facilities that operate under the name “Monastery Studenica.” What may appear at first to be a minor or harmless detail is, in fact, a serious matter of abuse – an exploitation of the very name and dignity of one of the holiest endowments of the Serbian people.
Studenica is not a tourist service
The Monastery of Studenica, under the protection of UNESCO, is not a hotel or a rental property. It is not part of the tourist industry but part of eternity. Its walls do not bear room numbers – they bear the traces of prostrations, the whispers of psalms, and the voices of those who seek not answers but mercy.
To enter the monastery guesthouse is not to enter accommodation. It is to enter a cell of silence – a space where breath itself becomes prayer.
Abuse of the sacred
Private establishments in the vicinity of the monastery, using its name for commercial gain, create the illusion that visitors are participating in the monastery’s life. This is not an innocent misrepresentation but a spiritual distortion. As the Gospel warns: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6).
Saint Sava did not build places of leisure – he built temples of repentance and communion with God. To reduce his legacy to a marketing slogan is not only a breach of ethics; it is, in truth, a mockery of the holy.
The consequences are grave
Deception of the faithful: pilgrims are misled into believing they are part of the monastery’s life when they are not.
Commercialization of the sacred: what is consecrated risks being turned into a brand.
Damage to reputation: any negative event in such facilities may unjustly be linked to the monastery itself.
Violation of ecclesial integrity: the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church declared in 2006: “Any misuse of the name of the Church or her sanctuaries for commercial purposes constitutes a grave offense and a source of scandal.”
Saint Basil the Great warned: “He who under the guise of piety acquires profit is worthy of double judgment.”
The name of Studenica belongs to the Church
Studenica is not a commercial label. It belongs to the Church; it belongs to Saint Sava, who raised it not as a hostel but as a mission; it belongs to the monks who rise before dawn, carrying in their hearts the burden of prayer for all.
The poet Njegoš wrote in „The Ray of the Microcosm“:
“Sanctuaries are temples of immortality,
where man converses with God.”
To reduce such sanctuaries to branded lodging is to turn light into darkness and the soul into a reservation number.
As the Lord Himself asked: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).
APEAL
Studenica Monastery is not a hotel. It is not a rental apartment. It is not a marketing brand. It is a house of prayer, a sanctuary of silence, and a pillar of eternity.
We call upon all responsible institutions, both ecclesial and state, to protect the dignity of Studenica from any misuse of its holy name. To lose Studenica as a symbol would be to lose not merely a monument but the very measure of what is sacred and what is profane.
Studenica is not in the service of tourism – it is in the service of salvation.
source: https://www.facebook.com/LicnaNGO/
