“We are responsible for standing upright and confessing the true faith, the true Orthodox values, defending our Romanian spiritual identity, and resembling the myrrh-bearing women,” His Eminence Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia wrote in his pastoral letter for Holy Pascha 2024.
“Full of courage, faith, zeal, and love, let us preach peace and forgiveness and share the joy of the Resurrection, by which Christ “did shatter the eternal bars” (Paschal Canon, ode 6) and ” destroyed the power of hell… offering Resurrection to the fallen” (Kontakion).
“Let us be like the holy myrrh-bearing women, who full of love followed the Saviour Christ during His preaching and who did not forsake Him even after the passions, the crucifixion, the death on the Cross and the burial,” His Eminence noted.
“For their devotion to Christ, for their souls full of faith, they, in their simplicity, deserved the greatest reward and joy, that of receiving from the angel the news and the message for all mankind that Christ is risen.”
“Let us not be afraid, let us not hide our faith, let us not deny our Romanian spiritual identity, let us not be frightened by the troubled waves of this world because if we have Christ always present in our hearts, we will know and truly feel the overcoming power that comes through the Resurrection. “Take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33).”
The sons and daughters of the Metropolis of Bessarabia are returning home
“We are witnessing a spiritual and historical correction. The sons and daughters of the Metropolis of Bessarabia are returning home,” Metropolitan Petru recalled, referring to the accession of new communities to the Metropolis of Bessarabia within the Romanian Patriarchate.
“Looking for justice and historical truth in accordance with ethnic identity and values, they turned their face to the Church of the Romanian nation, which gathers its believers as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings (Matthew 23: 37) and protects them.”
“We cannot pass unnoticed the uninterrupted help of the Romanian Patriarchate through the care of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, who, like a good father and gentle shepherd, takes care of the flock of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Bessarabia,” Metropolitan Petru remembered.
“Also, the Government of Romania continuously supports the construction of new churches, the renovation of holy places, and the decoration of holy altars, but also helps priests and their families through a minimal financial contribution, showing the unity of the Romanian people and promoting the spiritual traditions of Romanian Orthodoxy.”
“The Romanian people keep the same values of their forefathers, hierarchs, voivodes, rulers and important believers, who founded holy monasteries and churches throughout Orthodoxy, printed liturgical books, built hospitals, homes for the elderly and homes for orphaned children which stand as a testimony of universal unity to the present day,” the metropolitan of Bessarabia added.
“From the treasury of Christ’s love, let us take the courage to share our Orthodox and Romanian national values that we need nowadays, in the world we live in, and spread the word spoken by our Lord and Teacher Jesus Christ: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives (John 14, 27).”
Photography courtesy of the Metropolis of Bessarabia
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