Today, 1 March 2015, the Orthodoxy Sunday, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania celebrates 25 years since his ordination as hierarch. Thus, His Beatitude was congratulated at the end of the Divine Liturgy celebrated today in the Patriarchal Cathedral.
On this occasion, His Grace Timotei Prahoveanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest delivered a speech in which he made a short presentation of His Beatitude’s activity during these 25 years. We render a short fragment below:
Having known the importance of the education of the future shepherds of souls from parishes and monasteries, he confessed his interest in re-opening the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of Iasi ever since his first speech as hierarch, which fact he achieved the same year, in 1990. In order to show his gratitude to the one who used to be his supervisor during his doctorate studies, the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of Iasi, the capital city of Moldova, was given the name of Rev Professor Dumitru Staniloae. The great heed he paid to education can be also seen in the setting up of many institutions of culture within the Archdiocese of Iasi. Neither can we forget the hospitality that Patriarch Daniel showed to all those who visited him either in Iasi or in Bucharest. He invited to the two metropolises outstanding guests in the church, academic and cultural fields, among whom the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, as well as representatives of the other sister Churches, many officials from the country and abroad, ambassadors and other public persons.”
The Patriarch of Romania received a bunch of lowers on behalf of the servant priests present today in the Patriarchal Cathedral as a symbol of the gratitude for the years of holy service.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Patriarchal Cathedral hosted the launching ceremony of the book by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel entitled “Sacrificial Love – Light of the Resurrection. Work of the Church in Society in 2014”, published by Basilica publishing house. The book was presented by Archimandrite Paisie Teodorescu, patriarchal vicar.
“The book entitled Sacrificial Love – Light of the Resurrection. Work of the Church in Society in 2014” illustrates through its text and many photographs the rich tireless missionary work, creator of values and dignity, unfolded by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in 2014, which the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church declared as Solemn Eucharistic Year and Commemorative Year of the Brancovean Saints Martyrs.
The pages of the book present the representative texts drafted by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, the texts of the consecration documents, of the synodal and patriarchal pastoral letters and of the irenical letters published by His Beatitude on the occasion of the Resurrection or of the Nativity of the Lord, the messages sent on various occasions to certain personalities or institutions, the speeches delivered at important events occasioned by feasts of public meetings, the condolences officially sent, the prefaces of the most important books published by the Romanian Patriarchate or under the aegis of some other prestigious publishing houses.
The book also shows the traditional relations of the Romanian Orthodox Church with the other sister Orthodox Churches, as well as the activity designed to promote the relations of inter-Christian and inter-religious respect and cooperation. The messages addressed to the Primates of the Orthodox Churches and the speeches delivered within some international symposiums and conferences show us all the great care that His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel takes of communion and cooperation, as well as the ecclesiastic responsibility of the clergy and the missionary conscience of the laics, in order to intensify the active presence of the Church in society.
The publication of this book is the result of the good cooperation between the departments of the Romanian Patriarchate, the Patriarchal Office, Holy Synod Office, “Lumina” newspaper, Publishing House of the Religious Books and the Cultural Department of the Archdiocese of Bucharest. Having been a badly needed instrument of work and a landmark for the employees in the church and lay mass-media, the present book is useful not only to theologians, but also to all those willing to know the history and spirituality of the Romanian Orthodox Church” Archimandrite Paisie Teodorescu, patriarchal vicar emphasised.
To end with, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel thanked all the hierarchs, collaborators and faithful who pray every day for his good health and salvation.
“We thank His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei Prahoveanul for the rich beautiful speech delivered today on the occasion of the anniversary of 25 years spent as hierarch. This speech reminded us many holy moments blessed by God for the work of the Church. The years passed very fast and we look back only to thank God and those who helped us accomplish the useful work of the Church. But we always remember how much we still have to do. There are still many things to do in order to accomplish in time and no time the pastoral service of the Church of Christ in our country together with all the hierarchs, members of the Holy Synod, with the clergy and our monasteries for the welfare of the faithful who bring a precious contribution. We thank God for everything, and we think with gratitude of our biological parents who gave birth to us and grew us up, of all the spiritual fathers, professors and father confessors who contributed to our formation and of all those who were our collaborators in the church activity in Timisoara, Iasi, and here, in Bucharest because nobody can do great or good things in the Church but together with the other servants of the Church. The church work is done in communion and cooperation. This is why we thank especially Their Graces the Assistant Bishops who celebrated today helping us thank God together for the boons bestowed over our Church. We also thank all of you who attended the Divine Liturgy on the holy great of the Orthodoxy Sunday. We have prepared a little icon for all those present which fact shows the importance of the holy icons for our Church. The beauty of Orthodoxy is shown in its painting and icons, in the vestments of the servant priests, in the object of rite and in all the architecture of the Church as well as in the church music because it is the music which relates time and space in a place of worship. It is the music which opens man to eternity, as Saint John Chrysostom says. It is through the chant that we begin our address to the Kingdom of heaven, he said. Thus, all these things together show the beauty of Orthodox as a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven. All the beauty present in the Church, of the paintings, vestments, and of all the ceremonies urge us to wish the eternal heavenly beauty in the Kingdom of God, for the glory of God and for our salvation. Amen!, the Patriarch of Romania said.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel was ordained bishop on the Orthodoxy Sunday, on 4 March 1990, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Timisoara by the worthy remembering His Eminence Nestor, Metropolitan of Oltenia, His Eminence Nicolae, Metropolitan of Banat, and by the present Archbishop of Arad, His Eminence Timotei.
