His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, assisted at the Divine Liturgy celebrated on Bright Friday at Samurcășești Monastery, Ilfov County.
Today’s feast is dedicated to our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Source of Healing, and to the Mother of God, the Life-Giving Spring, Patriarch Daniel noted.
During his homily delivered on 21 April 2017, Patriarch Daniel referred to the historical events from the fifth century that led to the establishment of the Feast of the Life-Giving Spring of the Mother of God. Referring to the wondrous spring through which Virgin Mary performed many healings, Patriarch Daniel said that the healings were made through the grace that comes forth from Christ and through the Mother of God pours upon those with strong faith.
The patriarch explained the significance of the festive icon saying that it presents the feast as a celebration of the Risen Saviour Jesus Christ and of His Holy Mother since the Church does not make a separation between Christ and His Mother nor vice versa.
The Mother of God is the icon of Christ’s Church. She is a hospital through which spiritual and bodily illnesses are healed. Quoting Saint John Chrysostom, the patriarch recalled that the Church is a hospital and not a courthouse.
His Beatitude went on to highlight that spiritual and bodily health is a gift.
We learn from this feast day that God uses natural elements in His works, because His grace does not remain enclosed in the Church, instead it sanctifies the entire human life. The patriarch drew attention to the fact that we often forget the greatness attached to the gift of health. Health is a gift from God and not something we own. This gift must be cultivated, taken care of and sanctified, he said. When we lose it, the patriarch warned, we must seek it with much faith and hope from God, the Theotokos and the Unmercenary Saints.
His Beatitude noted that natural remedies and skillful physicians are gifts from God too and they help us recover the lost gift of health.
All healings come from a strong faith and through prayer, the Patriarch said. Incurable diseases were defeated beyond our understanding through faith and God’s immediate intervention.
Ending his homily, His Beatitude urged the faithful to draw close to God in sickness and to acquire first spiritual health and after it to attain to physical health.
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