At the beginning, those present were greeted by the host parish priest, rev. Marko Hrskanović who reminded that three years ago the 150^th anniversary of the founding of the parish and the 130^th anniversary of the construction of the church were solemnly marked. In addition, he thanked all previous parish priests who worked in the parish, and without him, there was 26 of them.

In the appropriate sermon, Msgr. Vukšić first reminded the faithful that the consecration of the church requires that it and its altar be properly arranged. He pointed out that the altar is at the centre of the Eucharistic celebration and that Jesus comes to it on the occasion of bread and wine. He noted that in the rite of consecration of the church, in addition to the invocation of saints in litanies, the altar and four places are anointed with Chrism oil, which symbolizes Christ - the Anointed One.

“We are anointed with this same oil in the sacrament of baptism and other sacraments, and thus we represent the temple of God spoken of by St. Paul”, said the Archbishop, calling on the faithful to dedicate themselves daily in their thinking, conscience and action. “Only then will this consecration of the church have its true effect and it will not remain just a rite”, the archbishop coadjutor concluded.

The sermon was followed by the rite of consecration of the church: signing of the charter, litany prayer, consecration prayer, installation of power in the altar, anointing of the altar and four smaller crosses in four places in the church with Confirmation oil and burning incense in five places of the altar.

At the end of the Holy Mass, those present went to the churchyard where there is a memorial in honour of the late parish priest of Gradačac, rev. Jakov Barišić, who was killed by Chetniks in 1942., and Msgr. Vukšić prayed the prayer for the dead.

Although the church in Gradačac is dedicated to St. Mark, the believers here especially honour St. Anthony. Therefore, the consecration of the church was on the memorial of a saint born in Lisbon, but better known as of Padua.

It is worth mentioning that today about 250 souls live in that parish, and there were about 200 believers at the Holy Mass.