Bishop Ignatie of Huși celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Sunday at “Saint Macarius the Great” Parish in Leeds, England, on the occasion of its patronal feast. The hierarch underlined that the duty of anyone who receives a blessing is to be grateful and thankful.
A large number of faithful attended the parish celebration, alongside Nicoleta Loredana Teodorovici, Romania’s Consul General in Manchester, and representatives of local British authorities, including Mark Sewards, a member of the UK Parliament, and Kate Haigh, a local councillor in Leeds.
In his sermon, the bishop spoke about gratitude and thanksgiving, referring to the healing of the ten lepers.
“Out of all ten, only one considers it important—elegant and natural—to return to the One who healed him, to the One who did them an immense good they may never have even dreamed of. And this Samaritan returns to Jesus, falls to his knees and thanks Him for being healed. In other words, he is grateful; he puts the virtue of gratitude into practice.”
His Grace explained that gratitude is not merely a moral virtue, but a healing spiritual state that brings peace, balance and light into a person’s life. “Let us be aristocrats of the spirit,” the Bishop of Huși urged.
At the end of the service, parish priest Ciprian Petru Nedelcu offered words of thanks to Bishop Ignatie for his episcopal ministry, for his spiritually beneficial message, and for his pastoral care for the community.
Bishop Ignatie shepherded the Romanian community in Leeds for a year and a half, from January 2014 to June 2015, when he served as an assistant bishop of the Diocese of Spain and Portugal.
Photo: roarch.org.uk
