Today, 30 June 2013, the Monastery of All Saints, the well known foundation of Saint Hierarch Martyr Antim of Ivir celebrated its dedication day. The joy of the faithful who attended the holy service celebrated on the occasion of its dedication day was completed by the presence of His Beatitude Daniel Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Grace Varlaam Ploieșteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, assisted by a group of priests and deacons.
The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church delivered a sermon for the faithful present in which he spoke about this great feast of the Church.
“All Saints’ Sunday shows us three great truths. First, it shows us that the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s coming into the world, or of the Holy Spirit’s Descent, is the foundation of the Church of Christ and the deification of the people. Secondly, All Saints’ Sunday shows us that although every saint has a personal relation, unique and unrepeated, with God, yet, every saint is in communion with the other saints pleasant to God. Thirdly, All Saints’ Sunday shows us that the Church instituted this feast because the saints of God are more than those known by God. There are a lot of saints not known by people but by God who shows them at various moments of history through some wonders, or some other ones whom He will reveal at the second coming of the Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour”, His Beatitude said.
At the same time His Beatitude explained to those present the meaning of holiness, showing that only God is holy by nature, because the humans become saints only through their relationship with God: “The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s coming is to deify the humans. The deification of the humans begins through the Holy baptism, but this one is continued all the lifelong. It is deification for fruitfulness, and this is why Saint Paul the Apostle speaks about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. At the Baptism we are given the seeds of holiness; through faith and good deeds, through common work with the grace of God we make the seeds of virtues, of holiness grow, and so does man grow in holiness. Holiness is a spiritual growth of the faithful man in the relationship with God, One and Holy; holiness is not a simple moral quality, but the people sharing the Holiness of God, One and Holy. The Orthodox Liturgy says Let us remember, the Holies of the Holies, the holy gifts are given to the saints and the answer of the faithful is: One is Holy, One Jesus Christ in the glory of God-the-Father. So, we admit that man is not the source of holiness, but God the One and Holy who shares His Holiness to those who believe in Him, who love Him in prayer and good deeds, who accomplish His will in their life. This holiness begins with the Sacrament of Baptism, and this is why on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit the Church is constituted as a gathering of various persons and peoples in the love of the Most Holy Trinity. This is a great mystery of the Church because only the Holy Spirit can keep together people of different temperaments, ages, jobs, languages, places, and cultures”.
The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church has also shown that the strongest part of the Church is the communion of the saints.
“All Saints’ Sunday shows us the communion of the saints, their beauty to be together in common thought, work and glorification towards God. We have several saints on one day in the calendar, but all these saints mentioned separately should also have a day when they all must be remembered just to show the beauty of the Church One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. The Church is first of all the communion of the saints, and the strongest part of the Church is the communion of the saints. We remain in the Church to the extent to which we follow this communion of the saints. When we separate ourselves from the communion of the saints through heresy or by infringing the will of God we alienate ourselves from the saints and from the Holy Church in her entirety. Therefore, this is the day of all the saints together and it has special beauty. Yet, we must mention the fact that although we remember several saints every day, not all of them are remembered by name, but only in certain cases, at the Eucharistic prayers after the blessing of the holy gifts, in certain groups: patriarchs, prophets, apostles, hierarchs, disciples, etc. The first one of all these saints is the Mother of God, named the Most Holy One. The Holy Trinity is also called Most Holy, and so is the Mother of God, because One Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, was born Man by her. She is the closest one to the Most Holy Trinity”, His Beatitude said.
To end with, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church gave several books to the monastery library, and he received an icon of the communion of all saints on behalf of the monastic community.
“300 years after the foundation of this holy monastery by its founder, named a genius of many arts by the historians of the time, this place of worship was not only a monastic settlement, but also a cultural centre due to the special qualities of the founder, Saint Martyr Antim of Ivir. He was an outstanding painter, sculptor, founder of the Romanian literary language, and of the books written in Latin letters. This is why we, not only the monastic community, but also the community of the entire Antim Monastery wish to offer His Beatitude an icon of all saints”, said Protosingelos Vicențiu Oboroceanu, abbot of Antim Monastery.
To end with the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania blessed the bakery of the monastic settlement.
Antim Monastery of Bucharest was built from 1713 – 1715, by the efforts of Saint Antim of Ivir, Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia at the time, according to the plans he had drawn.
