The day of December 5th, 2015 will remain a memorable day in the history of the Polish Orthodox Church. His Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, presided the blessing of the foundation stone of the new Orthodox Cathedral St Sophia – the Wisdom of God, located in the Ursynów district of Warsaw.
In his speech, His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew underlined several times the importance of this event, and namely that of the blessing of the new Cathedral in the capital city of Poland, within the Orthodox Diocese of Warsaw and Bielska. On this occasion, His Holiness referred to the prototype of the new cathedral, which is now situated in Turkey, saying that: “Hagia Sophia is not a museum, nor a mosque, but she has always been and still is an Orthodox Cathedral, in the walls of which angels silently weep and carry forth prayers to God”.
His Beatitude Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, said that a great event is being marked with the construction of a new church in Warsaw, which coincides with some other important anniversaries: the 25th anniversary of Poland’s state independence, and the 90th anniversary of autocephaly of the Polish Orthodox Church.
“People nowadays are experienced but also divided; they need miracles and extraordinary events such as this one today”. His Beatitude Sava added that “an Orthodox Cathedral as a whole is similar to a closed book. After the consecration, each brick, every part of the cathedral becomes a hymn, a liturgy, and receives a majestic holiness. This is what the consecration means. This Mystery separates it (the cathedral) from the worldly place, it cleanses it by the invocation of the Holy Spirit, Who transforms any space in a place of theophany (appearance of God), a Holy Mount, situated in the centre of the Cosmos, a ladder of Jacob”.
“At the foundation of the Cathedral have been laid relics of Holy Martyrs: the Holy Infants of Bethlehem, who were killed by Herod’s command, and the Holy Child Martyr Gabriel Zabłudowski”. (The six-year-old Holy Martyr Gabriel Zabłudowski, was kidnapped from his parents and killed by a Jew in 1690, in the Polish town of Białystok. He is considered a protector of children).
“The new Cathedral St Sophia – the Wisdom of God represents a prayerful gratitude brought to our Orthodox predecessors, who offered their lives on the altar of serving God and the Homeland. This is the land upon which St Trinity Church was situated, a land sprinkled with the blood of the Warsaw insurgents, who in the year 1944 sheltered in this church, as well as the land on 138 Wolskiej Str., where the Nazi Germans killed children and their teachers in an Orthodox Orphanage. St Sophia Cathedral will be a monument in the honour of the Orthodox refugees of 1915, martyrs of Chełmska and Podlasie lands, victims of Vistula (Wisła) Action, from Furmanów village, and in the honour of those who suffered and gave their lives for the Orthodoxy”, His Beatitude added.
At the ceremony of blessing and laying of the foundation stone of St Sophia Cathedral in Warsaw numerous Polish Orthodox bishops took part: Archbishop Szymon, Archbishop Abel, Archbishop Jakub, Bishop Jerzy, Bishop Paisjusz, as well as Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Brusa (members of the Ecumenical Patriarchate delegation). Among those in attendance were also representatives of other Christian Churches; the Roman-catholic Church was represented by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz. Representatives of the Presidential Chancellery, the Office of the Prime minister, and local authorities were also present.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Sava addressed special thanks to the developer of the project, architect Andrzej Markowski, as well as to the Committee for the Construction of the Cathedral, lead by Rev. Fr Adam Siemieniuk and Deacon Marek Łopatiuk, who have supported the effort of edifying St Sophia Cathedral in Warsaw.
Full of hope His Beatitude said: “We are at the beginning of the road. We begin a great work and we pray the Almighty God that His blessing may accompany us until the completion of this work”.
Source: orthodox.pl
