Thousands of faithful from all parts of Romania, as well as the citizens of Iaşi, participated on Wednesday, 14 October 2015, in the Divine Liturgy celebrated on the feast of St Pious Paraskeva the New of Iaşi. In this event national and local officials also took part, as informed by Ioana Stoian, marketing specialist – the Cultural and Missionary Centre Doxologia.
The Divine Liturgy took place on a stage located on Stephen the Great and Holy Ave, in which over 15.000 faithful took part. At the same time, in a queue of several kilometres, another 10.000 pilgrims listened to the Divine Liturgy, waiting to get to bow down before the relics of St Pious Paraskeva, of the Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal to the Apostles Mary Magdalene and of St John Chrysostom.
The service was officiated by His Eminence Damaskinos, Archbishop of Jaffa and Arimathea (Patriarchate of Jerusalem), together with an assembly of over 20 hierarchs from home and abroad. Among them we mention:
- His Eminence Justin, Metropolitan of Nea Krini and Kalamaria (Orthodox Church of Greece);
- His Eminence Petru, Metropolitan of Bessarabia and Exarch of the Territories (Romanian Patriarchate);
- His Grace Nikolaos of Apollonia, Assistant bishop to the Archbishopric of Tirana (Orthodox Church of Albania);
- His Grace Antonie of Orhei, Assistant bishop to the Archbishopric of Chișinău (Romanian Patriarchate).
The liturgical responses were offered by the reunited choirs of the two Monasteries of Văratec and Agapia.
After the reading of the Gospel, His Eminence Teofan, Metropolitan of Moldova and Bukovina, gave the floor to His Grace Timotei Prahoveanul (of Prahova), Assistant bishop to the Archbishopric of Bucharest, who read out the blessing address sent by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.
“St Pious Paraskeva and St Mary Magdalene teach us that through faith man can acquire the eternal joy and life. St John Chrysostom, declared by the Holy Synod (of the Romanian Orthodox Church) as a protector of this year, speaking on the faith and piety of the myrrh-bearing women exclaims: ‘Look at the women who suffered together with Christ, who had cried next to Him, behold how great their perseverance is! They were the first ones to see Him risen from the dead, and this feminine generation, which had been blamed until then, was the first to receive the joy of perceiving the celestial goods. The Disciples ran away, but the women remained.’ The presence in Romania of the relics of St Mary Magdalene, brought to Iași from Simonopetra Monastery of Mount Athos, which had been restored by the Romanian Ruler Prince Michael the Brave, strengthens the relation between the Romanian holy places and the holy places all over the world”, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel mentioned in his address.
During the Divine Liturgy, six war veterans who had distinguished themselves through their love of country received from His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan the Moldavian Cross, the highest award of the Metropolis of Moldova and Bukovina.
“How merciful God is that we are still contemporaries with these men and those alike, the veterans of war who, together with the political prisoners, form the quintessence of our people, the sap of our nation and the holy water from which the survival of our people still quenches its thirst. May God protect them and grant them the years that only He considers for every one of us”, His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan mentioned.
The six veterans of war present in Iași were the following:
- Constantin Ardeleanu (88 years old, Botoșani);
- Brigadier general Gheorghe Ștefan Dimofte (93 years old, Suceava County);
- Colonel Vasile Adam (93 years old, Vaslui County);
- Second Lieutenant Dumitru Pădureanu (101 years old, Bacău County);
- Lieutenant-colonel Ion Vasile Ioniță (102 years old, Neamț County);
- Captain Gheorghe Hârcă (103 years old, Iași County).
At the end of the Divine Liturgy celebrated on the feast day of St Paraskeva of Iași, His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan addressed a message of thanks, advising the faithful to further transmit all what they have lived in Iași and everything they have felt with the mind that God works for our benefit.
“Our first and last gratitude is addressed to these wonderful blessed countenances full of patience, of perseverance and, above all, full of faith in God and love towards His saints. You support the Church, the people, and the entire world; May god protect you all, so that you will return to your homes with the countenances of St Paraskeva, St Equal to the Apostles Mary Magdalene and St John Chrysostom, with their blessing and the icons containing their faces, with their presence in your hearts, and the blessing of their intercession. May you depart having the joy that you also participated in this year’s great feast of St Paraskeva! Returning at home, remind those who couldn’t be present together with us how good the Lord is, the Lord you have felt in Iași during these days”, His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan added.
Photos: doxologia.ro
