The Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploiești on Wednesday urged theology students to use their study time in order to ‘ennoble their mind and soul.’
His Grace Bishop Varlaam presided over the Divine Liturgy at St Catherine University Chapel in Bucharest on the feast day of the Three Holy Hierarchs, who are considered spiritual patrons of theological education.
Sts Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom were declared Patron Saints of theological education at the First Congress of the Orthodox Theological Faculties in Athens (1936).
Following the Divine Liturgy, a memorial service was held in the memory of the theology professors and students who reposed in the Lord.
His Grace conveyed Patriarch Daniel’s blessing to those present, also referring to the devotion of Romanian princes to the Three Holy Hierarchs, who brought fragments of the Saints’ holy relics to the territory of Romania.
‘We remember Prince Alexandru Lapusneanu who bought with 300 silver coins the honourable head of St Gregory the Theologian from two Athonite monks, enshrining the relic at Slatina Monastery in Suceava,’ His Grace said Jan. 30.
The bishop recalled that Patriarch Makarios of Antioch presented Moldavia’s Prince Vasile Lupu with a particle of the holy relics of Saint Basil the Great, which is now enshrined at the Three Holy Hierarchs Monastery in Iasi.
Bishop Varlaam said that particles of the holy relics of Saint John Chrysostom are placed for veneration at St Catherine’s University Chapel, and at the Chapel of the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral. These relics were offered to Patriarch Teoctist by Cardinal Silvano Piovanelli, Roman-Catholic Archbishop of Florence.
Ending his speech, the Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop wished many years to those who bear the names of the Three Holy Hierarchs, praying for students to receive the help of God especially during the examination session.
The newly-elected dean of the Bucharest Faculty of Orthodox Theology Fr Ionut Moldoveanu thanked the Patriarch, His Grace Bishop Varlaam, the representatives of the University of Bucharest, the professors and students for their participation at the festive Divine Liturgy.
The services were followed by a small concert of religious songs held at the Faculty’s Dumitru Staniloae Auditorium.
Finally the Yearbook of the Faculty of Theology was launched.
Photography courtesy of Raluca Ene / Basilica.ro
