Today, 24 May 2015, the 7th Sunday after Easter, also called of the Holy Fathers of Ecumenical Council I, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church was in the middle of the monastic community of Pasarea Monastery, county of Ilfov, where he participated in the Divine Liturgy.
The right faith and prayer keep the unity of the Church
The Patriarch of Romania showed, in the sermon delivered in the end of the celebration that while reading today’s evangelical pericope of Saint Evangelist John 17:1-13, we learn especially that the right faith and prayer keep the unity of the Church.
“Today’s Gospel shows three great truths. First of all, it shows that the Son of God came into the world to give eternal life to humans. Secondly, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, reveals to His disciples the name of God, namely that God is the Father of an Eternal Son, not only Father Creator of the heaven and earth, or guardian of the people chosen, but also the Father of an Eternal Son Who is Jesus Christ, the One who has become Man out of love for people and for their salvation. The third great truth is the prayer for the unity of the Church, for the perfect communion of the disciples and faithful of Christ, of those who believe in Him. These three great truths are shared to the disciples so that the joy of Christ should be complete in His disciples, as it can be seen in the end of today’s Gospel. This joy of Christ is complete when they observe the right faith and unity of the Church”, His Beatitude said.
Nobody can be saved unless he/she believes in Jesus Christ, Son of God
His Beatitude showed the relationship that the 7th Sunday after Easter establishes between the two feasts: the Ascension of the Lord and the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
“This Sunday relates the feast of the Ascension of the Lord to that of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, which will be next Sunday, the 8th Sunday after Easter. Thus, this feast is full of spiritual meaning, because it shows us the great truth that Jesus Christ, Son of God, came down into the world, was made Man, preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, suffered, was crucified on the Cross, was buried and then was raised to life, and after 4o days He ascended to Heaven in glory. That is because He is the Son of God and nobody can be saved, communicate with the heavenly glory, unless he/she believes in Jesus Christ, Son of God. Thus, the Ascension of the Lord to Heaven calls us to confess His divinity, the right faith that Jesus Christ is not a simple man, but the Son of the Living God. Thus, this Sunday is a preparation too for the Sunday of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, because Christ ascends to heaven in glory so that the Holy Spirit should come down in lowliness, and those who believe in Christ and live in lowliness and virtues should raise to heaven together with Christ”, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church underlined.
To end with, Hs Beatitude Patriarch Daniel congratulated the entire community of Pasarea Monastery and offered the abbess several publications of the Romanian Patriarchate. Stavrofora Mihaela Costache, abbess of the settlement offered the Patriarch of Romania a bunch of flowers as sign of gratitude. Finally, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church said a prayer for nun Filofteia Caprita who was lying in state in the nave of the church monastery, passed away aged 82, after seen decades of monastic life.
Pasarea Monastery is the greatest monastic settlement of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, according to the number of nuns, and it unfolds a rich missionary activity through the hostel for aged women, the girls’ theological seminary, Polishing Section of the Romanian Patriarchate’s Workshops, and the workshops for embroidery and church vestments tailoring.
