Bishop Ioan Casian held two online meetings at the end of May with participants from two youth camps organized by the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada to mark the International Children’s Day.
The annual youth camps are dedicated to St Theodora of Sihla in Ontario, and to St. Andrew in Quebec.
During the online meeting, the bishop blessed the young people and offered them few spiritual reflections. The special guests of the encounter were the members of the Romanian Orthodox Youth Association (ROYA), who spoke about their growth in the Church since the first camps in 2003.
The participants looked at photos taken during the camps and recalled the sport contests, the iconography workshops and the wonderful moments spent together. The children had the opportunity to interact with each other, the teachers and monitors of the camps.
The ROYA “seniors” explained what it means to be a young Orthodox Christian with Romanian roots. They made plans for the future camps and discussed projects for disadvantaged children in Canada and Romania.
At the meeting of the Québec children, a review of the five groups of children with names of Romanian monasteries was made: Rohia, Cozia, Sihăstria, Prislop and Dervent. Young Theo performed a classical piece by Bach. The winners of the online chess contests for children were also announced.
As in all camps, the most difficult moment was leave-taking. The Romanian Orthodox / Canadian Squad Team will prepare another online meeting. In the end, the children were congratulated with the song: Happy birthday!
Photo: Diocese of Canada
