In the presence of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, at the Patriarchal Palace, on Thursday, 5 December 2013,the fifth edition of the cultural and artistic performance St. Nicholas among the childrenwas organised.
The event organised by the Department for education and youth activitiesof the Archdiocese of Bucharest,in collaboration with the Schools Inspectorate of Bucharest Municipality and Deaneries I, II, III,was held in Aula Magna PatriarchTeoctistof the Patriarchal Palace,beginning at 17:00 hours.
The performance was held in two sections and had three mini-carols concerts and three mini-plays.
Finally, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church addressed to those present a speech entitled Saint Nicholas – symbol of gentleness and kindness. In his speech, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, showed that Saint Nicholas, by the example of his life and deeds of mercy, has inspired a culture of kindness and generosity in all Christian peoples, especially where he is venerated with great devotion, cherished and loved.
“St. Nicholas overcomes any formalistic pedagogy and represents the spiritual pedagogy of human likeness to God, which is not learnedjust from the outside, through a formal imitation of moral deeds, but is acquired mainly through a frequent human encounter with God in humble prayer. Each humble prayerenlightensthe soul, sanctifies it and sendsto it the humble love of Christ, of the Heavenly Father and of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Saint Nicholas was a generous man because he was a great man of prayer and of fasting. In this sense, Saint Nicholas teaches us not to separate the charity work or social philanthropy from the liturgy or practice of prayer, but always ask from God in our prayers to make us better ones, give us goodness from His goodness, humble love from His humble love“, said His Beatitude.
The Patriarch also congratulated all those who helped organise this holy moment and at the same time full of joy: “Congratulations, first of all, to the children and young people who have made us joyful by everything presented here, as a gift of light for our souls, in order to remember our childhood and youth. At the same time, we thank their parents and teachers who have brought them up, have educated them ​​and wish that in the education of children and young people the greatest gift should not be missed, namely thefaith, the bond of love between man and God and His saints. We congratulate the entire personnel of theDepartment for education and youth activitiesof the Archdiocese of Bucharest, who coordinated the preparation of the program for this evening”.
At the end, the little artists received gifts from the Patriarch of Romania.
The purpose of thisevent was to promote the religious feasts, nurturing of love towards the saints and educating pupils in respecting the traditional values ​​and the affirmation of their own religious, cultural and national identity. This year’s edition has promoted collaboration between parish priests and teachers of religion in Bucharest, between Church and School.
A selection in Bucharest deaneries has taken placefrom 25-29 November 2013, in which each parish,together with one of the schools on their canonical territory,has joined. At the end of the selection, the two parishes that will represent each deanery were designated.
Opening at the Palace of the Patriarchate
In the same performance “Saint Nicholas among the children”, at the Palace of the Patriarchate,there was the opening of the drawings exhibition of “The Saints Friends of Children” and of the models exhibition “The Church from the family soul”. The exhibitions were visited also by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.
