The Holy Mass was led by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić, in communion with the appointed Military Bishop, Msgr. Miro Relota, and concelebrated by the Chargé d'Affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Sarajevo, Msgr. Amaury Medina Blanco, the Provincial of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena, OFM Zdravko Dadić, and about 30 other priests.

First, Msgr. Vukšić blessed the candles, followed by a procession inside the church.

The Spirit as the Source of Gifts

At the beginning of his sermon, the Archbishop referred to the feast of Candlemas, when the Church remembers the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and when it decided to celebrate the day of consecrated life, and thanked the nuns for their service. He emphasized the threefold nature of this celebration: “We remember the event when Jesus was presented to the Lord in Jerusalem (Lk 2:22); secondly, in memory of Jesus, we make it a point to present himself to God the Father in this temple in the sacrament of his body and blood; and thirdly, we pray for you who have voluntarily presented yourselves in the temple and offered yourselves to God.” He then spoke about the different ways of offering yourselves to the Lord. "In this divine orchestra of various instruments, called together to play the symphony of God's love in the world, our sister Vesna decided to sing the glory of God with missionary notes in distant Uganda. Dear sister Vesna, we rejoice with you", he said to sister Vesna Bošnjak, who is receiving the missionary cross at this Holy Mass celebration, emphasizing that all religious men and women are "led by the same Spirit"; the source of all gifts.

Perfect Joy

He then mentioned certain individuals from the history of the Church who, in a saintly way, managed to achieve some form of similarity to Christ in their lives. An example is St. Francis, whose 800^th anniversary of death will be celebrated in 2026. He also touched on the letter of Pope Leo XIV., which he sent to the Conference of the Franciscan Family on the occasion of the special Jubilee Year, emphasizing the desire to spiritually join the entire Franciscan Family and all who will participate in the events commemorating St. Francis, in the hope that the message of holiness and peace will find a deep echo in the Church and society today.

"As we are on our path of sanctification, we are aware that holiness is always more a personal desire than a reality and that holiness is acquired and built exclusively through love for God and man", Archbishop Tomo concluded, urging that St. Francis engenders perfect joy and harmony in everyone.

After the homily and the rite of receiving the missionary cross, Archbishop Tomo, in the context of the Franciscan Jubilee, distributed a general indulgence in the name of the Holy Father.

The music and singing were animated by the choir of Franciscan theologians, Fra Nenad Dujić, under the direction of OFM Emanuel Josić.