His Grace Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Ieronim of Sinaia on Saturday, Dec. 1, officiated the first Te Deum service on Romania’s National Day inside the newly inaugurated Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral, marking 100 years since the 1918 Great Union.
In his homily delivered after the Doxology, Bishop Ieronim stressed that during these troubled times ‘we should not diminish as a nation,’ adding that it is important to realize that ‘Christianity gives value and orientation to our people.’
His Grace insisted on the importance of honouring our faith in the ancestral mother tongue and of not forgetting those who sacrificed themselves for the motherland.
The Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop also referred to the National Cathedral dedicated to all Romanian heroes and congratulated His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel the Romanian Orthodox Church and Romania ‘for the achievement of this national symbol.’
‘Many years to the Romanian Orthodox Church! Many years to Romania! Many years to all Romanians from home and everywhere,’ His Grace said.
List of known Romanian heroes
The National Cathedral is dedicated to all Romanian heroes who died for the country’s national unity and dignity. The Cathedral’s patronal feasts are the Ascension of the Lord (Heroes’ Remembrance Day) and St Andrew the Apostle.
A list including all the names of the known Romanian heroes was placed inside the Holy Altar and will be remembered at every Divine Liturgy.
Prayers of thanksgiving
On Romania’s National Day, a Te Deum Service is officiated in all churches and monasteries within the Romanian Patriarchate offering prayers of thanksgiving for the benefactions poured out upon the Romanian people united in one country.
At 10.00 a.m., the bells of every church in the country rang for three minutes marking the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Great Union.
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Photography courtesy of Raluca Ene / Basilica.ro
