{"id":288904,"date":"2020-08-19T13:57:21","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T10:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=288904"},"modified":"2020-08-19T13:57:21","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T10:57:21","slug":"patriarch-of-romania-donates-icon-and-6000-euros-to-new-crisis-pregnancy-center-holy-empress-helen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/patriarch-of-romania-donates-icon-and-6000-euros-to-new-crisis-pregnancy-center-holy-empress-helen\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriarch of Romania donates icon and 6,000 Euros to new crisis pregnancy center \u201cHoly Empress Helen\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cHoly Empress Helen\u201d Counseling and Information Center was inaugurated<\/a> on Sunday in the presence of Father Ciprian Ioni\u021b\u0103, Patriarchal Counselor, who officiated the blessing service and offered a gift on behalf of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel: the icon of the Holy Emperors Constantine and Helen.<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

The new centre will provide support for women in pregnancy crisis and it was established by the Association for Pregnant Women and Family Support after the first centre of the organization, \u201cSaint Alexandra the Empress\u201d, was overwhelmed by the great number of help requests.<\/p>\n

The project was made possible by 300 donors from Romania and abroad, who donated 21,000 Euros between June 8 and July 16, in response to the organization\u2019s online campaign \u201cRenew Hope for Both of Them\u201d. The amount has enabled the organization to open and run the centre until October 31, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thank His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, for the spiritual and material support offered and for being a real father for children \u2013 both born and unborn\u201d, said<\/a> Alexandra Nadane, Executive Director of the Association for Pregnant Women and Family Support, in her inaugural speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The gratitude was really from the bottom of the heart, since \u201cHis Beatitude\u2019s gift covers almost a third of the needed amount \u2013 he was indeed our most generous donor. It is the truth and we testify it\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n

Alexandra Nadane spoke of the difficulties she met, of which the most important was the Covid-19 pandemic. She said she found courage in the lives of saints. \u201cThe Holy Empress Helen gave birth to a child who changed the history of Christianity and of the world in a very socially unstable period\u201d, she mentioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Holy Br\u00e2ncoveanu Martyrs, whom we commemorate today [they were canonized in 1992 and are commemorated by the Romanian Orthodox Church on August 16, the date of the centre\u2019s inauguration <\/i><\/em>\u2013 ed. note<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>] built a Romanian culture and identity, churches and social institutions in a time when the Ottoman Turks were sovereign over Christian countries\u201d, Alexandra Nadane noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Holy Prince Stephen the Great built dozens of churches and monasteries during a reign marked by dozens of wars and fights. Not one of these saints waited for a peaceful time to do something. They all built the Good amidst crises. Looking at their deeds, we took courage.\u201d<\/p>\n