The Resurrection of the Lord Romanian Orthodox Church in Sacramento, United States, was consecrated on Sunday by Metropolitan Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas, marking the fulfillment of a decades-long dream for the Romanian Orthodox faithful in the region.
According to the Metropolis, the services began on Saturday evening with Vespers, after which Metropolitan Nicolae conducted the Service of the Placement of the Holy Relics of Saints Epictetus and Astion on the Paten (Diskos).
On Sunday, the Metropolitan celebrated the Great Consecration Service of the new church, assisted by an assembly of priests and deacons. The Divine Liturgy followed, with the Saint Innocentius of Probota Monastery Choir from Suceava County, Romania, led by Father Constantin Dan Magdalena, offering the liturgical responses.
At the end of the service, Metropolitan Nicolae spoke about the spiritual meaning of the consecration, urging believers to see it as a call to sanctify and renew their personal lives.
A blessed accomplishment
“This is a great and important day for your parish,” Metropolitan Nicolae said. “What you have worked so hard to build and prepare has today received Christ’s blessing. The fruit of your hands — this church — is now offered to Christ. He comes into the church at every Divine Liturgy and offers Himself to you, if you wish to receive Him in your bodies and souls.”
The Metropolitan presented the church with an icon of the Resurrection of the Lord as a lasting testimony of the event. For his pastoral service, Father Teodor Alin Gîrlonța, the parish priest, received the Order of Saints Constantine and Helen. Founders and benefactors of the parish were also honored with certificates of merit in recognition of their generosity and dedication.
The Orthodox dream on American soil
The establishment of the Resurrection of the Lord Parish in Sacramento spans more than two decades. In 2002, the Roșca family and other young Romanian immigrant families sought to establish their own parish.
Initially guided by Archimandrite Vichentie Punguță and later by Father Gheorghe Naghi, the community came under the pastoral care of Father Teodor Alin Gîrlonța in 2005, who was then the parish priest of Saint Nicholas Church in Blaj, under the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia.
Through the efforts of the Roșca family, land was purchased in South Sacramento, where a modest building was constructed and used for worship until 2009. As the structure did not meet legal construction requirements, the parish council decided to sell the property, settle debts, and continue services temporarily in a Greek-Catholic church in Sacramento.
The 2008 financial crisis, which severely impacted the real estate market, later presented an opportunity for the parish to acquire its current property, where the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated on December 16, 2018, in the presence of Metropolitan Nicolae.
Photo: Metropolis of the Americas
