Today, 8 November 2013, Day of Saints Michael and Gabriel and of the heavenly powers, the Patriarch of Romania was at the military chapel of “Saints Michael and Gabriel the Archangels” within the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie – Bucharest.
A group of priests and deacons celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the presence of hundreds of gendarmes. To end with the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a sermon entitled “Saints Michael and Gabriel the Archangels – spiritual protectors of the Romanian Gendarmerie” in which he spoke among other things about the work of the two archangels: “Archangel Michael will sound the trumpet at the time decided by God and will call the peoples, the entire world, at the last judgement. So, we see that he, as angel of justice, of truth and judgement, represents the work of God which corrects the people who make mistakes, he is the one who keeps the just man awake and does not let him think that wrong is right, that the lie is truth, that sin is holiness, or the will of the sinner is the will of God. (…) Saint Gabriel the Archangel is the protector of the families, mothers, girls, children, of the parents who give birth to children, grow them up in faith and prepare them for salvation and eternal life. He is the protector of the monks and nuns as well, of those who live in monasteries or in desert”.
The Patriarch of Romania has also spoken about the relationship between the Saints Archangels and Gendarmerie: “Starting from the motto of the Romanian Gendarmerie: “Lex et ordo” (law and order), written on its arms, we see that the ideal of this military structure has obvious similitude with what the Saints Archangels stand for. Saint Michael the Archangel symbolises the “law”, because he is a supporter of justice and truth, whom the Church calls “angel of law”, while Saint Gabriel the Archangel symbolises the “order”, peace and harmony, safety and common welfare, summed up in the name of “angel of the grace”. Thus, the entire activity of the Romanian gendarmes is planned to be developed on these two principles: law and order”.
Present at the religious service, the general inspector of the Romanian Gendarmerie, colonel Mircea Olaru thanked His Beatitude for this day and for the good collaboration between the two institutions.
After the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude awarded four priests the title of iconom stavrofor within the Ministry of the Interior and Administration. He has also awarded the Order of Saints Emperors Constantine and Helen to Colonel Mircea Olaru, General Inspector of the Romanian Gendarmerie. His Beatitude offered the military chapel several liturgical books spiritually useful. His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel was offered the plaquette of honour of the Romanian Gendarmerie.
Militaries of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie of Bucharest and lots of faithful attended the religious service.
