“The question of this day of the beginning of the Church Year is: Do we welcome God’s word or do we behave like those in Nazareth, who did not rejoice when they heard it?” said His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova on Sunday.
The assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest began the Church year in Limassol, Cyprus, where he accompanied, together with a delegation of Romanian clergy, a fragment of the Hieromartyr Cyprian’s relics kept at Zlătari Church in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania.
The Romanian bishop concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Bishop Porphyrios of Neapolis at the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael in Limassol, where the holy relics were officially greeted on Saturday evening by Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol.
The hierarchs were joined in the religious service by Fr Ștefan Sfarghie from Bucharest’s Zlătari Church and Hierodeacon Nicolae Iftimiu, coordinating patriarchal counsellor and director of the Romanian Patriarchate’s Basilica News Agency.

“Today reminds us first of the Saviour’s sermon in the Nazareth Synagogue, where He read from the book of Prophet Isaiah. The word of the prophet referred to Him, the One Who was to come and bring much comfort to the poor, the blind and all those who were in difficult situations in life,” His Grace said in his homily.
“He came to bless the poor, to bring sight to the blind, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Those in Nazareth are like us: They did not welcome the words of the Lord. We know that our Saviour was cast out of Nazareth.”
“And just as He had once been forced to leave His place of birth, Bethlehem, and go far away to Egypt, this time He was forced to settle in another place than Nazareth, where He had grown up. Our Saviour said to those who heard him: Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,” the hierarch recalled.
The martyrdom of St Cyprian, a victory for the Church

“Beloved faithful, I would like to express, in a few words, my joy for the beautiful welcome you have given to St Cyprian”, said Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova.
“We particularly notice two wonders in his life. The first is his life-changing conversion and his desire to serve God after he had been a servant of the devil and idols. His conversion symbolizes our urge to change our life.”
“The second bright example of his life is his martyrdom,” added the assistant bishop of the Archdiocese of Bucharest.
“We must not see the Hieromartyr Cyprian only as a redeemer from the evils of our lives, but also as a confessor of Christ and as a high example of strong faith.”
“Beloved faithful, the example of these saints urges us to be closer to Christ and our neighbour, our fellow man, the person next door who needs help. The example of the saints is addressed to a secularised world. We need of beautiful models to follow in our particularly difficult period”, His Grace emphasized.
“We pray to St Cyprian, whose martyrdom meant a victory for the Church together with the other martyrs, to help us in this ongoing struggle against darkness.”
The Cypriots’ devotion to St Cyprian

The Romanian bishop concluded by addressing thanks, on behalf of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, to Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, to His Grace Porphyrios, Bishop of Neapolis, to the priests of the “Holy Archangel Michael” Church in Limassol and also to the faithful, for their welcome and participation in the liturgy.
“Greater joy than that of being in the company of the saints we cannot have on earth”, said His Grace Timotei of Prahova.
“We thank Patriarch Daniel of Romania for sending the holy relics of Saint Cyprian, which were brought by His Grace Timotei of Prahova, Father Stefan Sfarghie and Hierodiacon Nicolae Iftimiu,” the Bishop of Neapolis said after the liturgy.
“We thank them for this great blessing, which comes on a day of great joy, the beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year – September 1.”

“It is a great blessing to have St Cyprian among us today, who is known for his miracles and greatly honoured in our country,” Bishop Porphyrios of Neapolis added.
“Cyprian is a very common name in our families, which is why we feel so much devotion for this saint,” the Cypriot hierarch explained.
The pilgrimage schedule
His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova gave a lecture on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, in Limassol’s “Holy Archangel Michael” Church. The theme was “Monasticism and Orthodox spirituality in Romania”.
On Thursday, 5 September, from 6.00 p.m., and on Friday morning, on the Commemoration of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae, His Grace Timotei of Prahova will celebrate Vespers and, respectively, the Divine Liturgy.
Hieromartyr Cyprian’s holy relics will remain in Limassol’s “Holy Archangel Michael” Church until Monday, September 9, and the faithful can honour them between 16:30 and 21:30. St Cyprian’s Paraklesis will be celebrated almost daily.
The relics of St Lazarus will be brought from the saint’s church in Larnaca, Cyprus, to the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, Romania, in October 2024, as part of the celebrations dedicated to St. Demetrius the New, the patron saint of Bucharest.
Photo credit: Lumina Newspaper / Luigi Ivanciu
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