This Sunday, 14 September 2014, the Orthodox Christians celebrated the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Many places of worship celebrated their dedication day, Caraiman Monastery of Busteni too.
Consecration of the big church of Caraiman Monastery
On the occasion of this feast, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church consecrated the big church of the monastic settlement, after 12 years since the laying of the foundation stone. The celebrating group consisted of: His Eminence Teofan, Metropolitan of Moldova and Bucovina, His Eminence Laurentiu, Metropolitan of Transylvania, His Eminence Nifon, Archbishop of Targoviste and patriarchal exarch, His Eminence Teodosie, Archbishop of Tomis, His Eminence Calinic, Archbishop of Arges and Muscel, and His Eminence Casian, Archbishop of Lower Danube, priests and deacons.
The second dedication day of Caraiman Monastery is the Resurrection of the Lord.
The second dedication day – Resurrection of the Lord
On this occasion, the church received the second dedication day, the Resurrection of the Lord.
“God helped us consecrate this church monastery dedicated to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and to the Resurrection of the Lord, a dedication day that it receives today to show the relationship between the Cross and the Resurrection of the Lord as we sing it: We pray to Your Cross, Master and We render glory to Your Resurrection. We are glad because the holy work we did today took place after the Akathistos of the Holy Cross and the solemn service for the heroes of the Romanian nation were celebrated yesterday, on Bucegi platform, close to Caraiman peak, where the Cross of the Heroes is located”, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church said.
After the consecration service, the Patriarch of Romania thanked the mayor of Busteni city, Emanoil Savin, for the support given to raise a church in Bucegi Mountains, close to the cross on Caraiman peak.
“We thank Mr. Mayor because he contributed a lot, together with the vice-mayor, to the decision of the Local Council to assign 3000 m2 large plot of land for the new church on Bucegi platform. Wherever it is a big cross of the heroes a church is needed too. It will be a small but solid church of concrete coated inside with brick for painting and with mountain stone outside to fit in the context of the National Park”, the Patriarch of Romanian also said, according to Trinitas Radio station.
To end with the consecration service, the faithful queued up to pass through the Holy Altar.
The Hierarchic Divine Liturgy
After the consecration service, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrated the Divine Liturgy on a scene specially arranged in the yard of Caraiman Monastery. The yard of the “Holy Cross” – Caraiman Monastery of Busteni was overcrowded with the thousands of faithful who have come to attend the celebration of the dedication day of the monastic settlement situated at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains. Over 3500 pilgrims prayed during the Liturgy celebrated by the Patriarch of Romania, together with 6 hierarchs of our Church, after the big church monastery was consecrated in the morning.
The Cross of Christ is Christ in sacrificial state
His Beatitude delivered a sermon in which he spoke about the significance of the Holy Cross: “The Cross of Christ is Christ Himself in state of merciful sacrificial love, and this is why we venerate the cross as not separated from Christ, so that Christ is not separated from the cross even after His Resurrection from the dead. The Mystery of the Cross will always be interior the body of the Christ Risen from the dead and glorified to show that His merciful devoted love is everlasting. Thus, the Cross of Christ is Christ in state of sacrifice, Christ in state of merciful devoted love.”
The power of the cross is the power of the merciful devoted love of Christ
The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church has also said that the Holy Cross is a weapon against the demons.
“The power of the cross is not a selfish or possessive power, but the power of the merciful devoted love which can forgive, raise, heal or gather what was scattered and which can save from sin and death those who believe in Christ. The power of the cross is the power of the merciful devoted love of Christ. Because the Crucified Christ was obedient till death and answered with kindness and love to hate, the proud demons and afraid of the sign of the Holy Cross, and this is why we sing saying that the Holy Cross is a weapon given to the Church against the devil”, His Beatitude also said.
To end with the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel spoke about the history of the monastic settlement, mentioning that this one was founded in 1998, at the initiative of the worthy remembering protosingelos Gherontie Puiu.
“Father Gherontie Puiu was an ordinary man, with strong faith, pious and patient. The faithful used to wait hours on end to reach him to confess their sins and get his blessing. Today, when we consecrated the church we have also blessed his grave with holy water as a sign of communion in prayer and his serene smiling face seemed to convey us his joy for having finally finished the construction of the big church”, the Patriarch of Romania said.
The former father confessor of the monastery passed away this year.
Gifts and distinctions
Then, the Patriarch of Romania thanked the hierarchs present at the feast of Caraiman Monastery, offering them a blessing cross. His Beatitude has also awarded the Order of the “Brancovean Saints Martyrs” to the abbot of the monastery and to the mayor of Busteni city. Several books of rite published at the publishing houses of the Romanian Patriarchate have been offered for the monastery.
Archimandrite took turns in delivering a thanksgiving speech.
“The construction of this church lasted from 2002 till 2007, when the building of this holy place of worship was finished. In August 2012, the painting of the church began lasting till September 2014. The painting was executed by Mr. Sebastian Ene. All these works were done by care and help of the Mother of God and with the great love of the faithful from all parts of the country and even from abroad, who contributed according to their abilities, but all with love for the holy places of worship”, Archimandrite David Petrovici said. In the end, the abbot of Caraiman Monastery offered His Beatitude and the hierarchs present an icon of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Caraiman Monastery is one of the representative monastic settlements of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, having been frequently visited by the faithful from all over the country and from abroad too, who have also contributed, to a great extent, to the construction of the monastery. Later on, a social pastoral centre was raised in the precincts of the complex, where various events are organised.
