Father Alexandru Nan, the Dean of Bavaria, officiated the first Orthodox service in the Romanian language at Dachau, Germany, on June 25, 2022.
Father Alexandru Nan officiated Vespers at Gandenkirche (“Church of Grace”) in Dachau in the presence of thirty Romanians, some of whom came with children from Dachau and Karlsfeld.
Deacon Nicolae Canciu, a clergyman at the “Nativity of God” parish in Munich, offered the liturgical answers at the chant stand.
Starting from the words addressed by the Saviour to his first-called Apostles, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men” (Mt. 4:19), Fr. Alexandru Nan spoke to those present about the mission of the Church, which seeks spiritual sons and daughters everywhere, fulfilling today the command of the Saviour: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).
The Dean of Bavaria urged those present, although they live in a secularized world, increasingly marked by hedonism, individualism and selfishness, to apply in their lives the words of the Lord: “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt. 6:33).
At the end of his speech, Father Alexandru Nan referred to the need to preserve the identity of faith, language and nation.
The participants received a copy of the Romanian-German bilingual edition of the Life and Akathist Hymn of St. Parascheva, recently published by the “Nativity of the Lord” and “St. Parascheva” Romanian Parish in Munich.
Until now, there were only a Greek and a Russian Orthodox parish in Dachau, sometimes visited by Romanians, but language barriers hindered them.
Pastoral-missionary activities have resumed in the Bavarian Deanery after a period of many pandemic restrictions.
The new location was identified following the encouragement of Metropolitan Serafim in the context of the increasing number of Romanians coming to Germany, even during the pandemic.
The Romanian community in Germany currently numbers around one million people, the Archdiocese’s representatives said.
Photography courtesy of the Romanian Orthodox Deanery of Bavaria
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