His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, was present on Sunday, 14 February 2016, at the Vatra Luminoasă in Bucharest. His Beatitude participated at the Divine Liturgy officiated by Rev. Ioan Popescu, Archpriest of the 6th Deanery , by Rev. Ovidiu Laurenţiu Stegăruş, Vicar of the Parish The Dormition of the Mother of God” – Vatra Luminoasă, and by Rev. Marius Marian Petre.
On this occasion, for the spiritual benefit of the priests and faifthful of the Parish Vatra Luminoasă, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel offered a reliquary with a fragment of the relics of St Hierarch Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia.
After the Divine Liturgy, in his sermon the Patriarch of Romania spoke about the spiritual meanings drawn from the Gospel reading, also called the Gospel of the Cannanaite woman. His Beatitude said that this Gospel though short, is full of spiritual teachings for our life and for the light that our faith gives us in times of trial.
“The prayer of the cannanaite woman prefigures the prayer of the Church for the ill, for the helpless, for the persons that do not know (how to pray), do not desire or cannot pray. This demonized girl could not pray for herself. The voice of her pain and her prayer was expressed through the voice of her grieving mother”, his Beatitude said.
The Romanian Patriarch also emphasized the fact that Gospel reading urges us to pray not only for ourselves, but also for everyone seeding the help of God, to pray for the lonely, the hopeless and for those overwhelmed by grief in such a way that they cannot pray anymore.
“The Church teaches us to pray for soul in sorrow and in distress and for whom nobody is praying anymore. The humble and merciful love for the health and salvation of others is more priceless than the prayer for ourselves. Praying for one’s self hides a certain amount of egoism, but the most powerful prayer is (the one) for those who are more sorrowful and distressed than us”, His Beatitude said.
The cannanaite woman becomes a great teacher for all of us, His Beatitude said. Through her attitude she teaches us powerful faith, deep humbleness, perseverance in prayer and the wisdom that comes out of merciful love shown towards those who are suffering.
The reliquary containing the fragment of St Nicholas’ relics was blessed by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel after the sermon.
The relics were offered for the Parekklesion of the Patriarchal Residence on 12 January 2016 by Archimandrite Dimitrios Kavadis, vicar of the St Pantelimon parish of Lagkadas Metropolis, Greece.
At the end, the Romanian Patriarch offered many liturgical books for the parish’s library but also for the spiritual benefit of the faithful. In his turn, Rev. Fr Ovidiu Laurenţiu Stegăruş thanked His Beatitude for the gifts. He also thanked Mr. Neculai Ontanu, Mayor of the 2th District of Bucharest, for the support offered over time in building and embellishing the place of worship.
