Serendipity

We were anchored off the Franciscan Monastery on Badija.  The building started as a monastery in 14th C.  In 1949 it was expropriated by the communist government and has since been a prison, boarding school, sports centre, and hotel.  It is currently being renovated and has been returned to it's religious roots.

If you're following along with us, you know that one of my favourite things about travelling slowly are the events that we come across serendipitously.  The National Day parade in Barbados, a church sing along in Martinique, the tall ship parade in Bermuda, viewing the America's Cup from a Bermudian Antares owner who happened to see us and invited us onto his motorboat, an evening concert in the Azores...to name a few.

While checking the anchor at Otocic Badija, I noticed a number of nuns, priests and even monks gathered outside the monastery.  This was exciting enough as we often saw monasteries but never a soul moving inside or outside.  As we watched a boat arrived with more religious folk, then several boats with people in their Sunday best, all joining in a big line of a couple of hundred while one of the priests with microphone talked and others sang in baritone.  Eventually the procession moved very slowly, silently and seriously into the church which was out of our view.  During this hour or so the bells clanged ecstatically.  We could see the bell ringer in the tower right under the bells pulling the rope - for an hour.

The welcoming committee

The initial boat was wreathed in garlands and carried dignitaries, the most important of whom sat on a throne high on the bow.

An icon/painting of some sort which was carried by four priests was probably the raison d'être of the event  

For the next three hours we could here the sermon and singing with the occasional bell punctuation.  This was all in 35 degree heat with many standing outside.  Finally, they exited, now chattering and laughing either from relief that it was over or from religious fulfillment or maybe both.

Memorable!