Saturday, 14 September 2013, feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania celebrated the Divine Liturgy on a scene specially arranged in front of the new seat of the Diocese of Salaj. Besides His Beatitude, His Eminence Andrei, Metropolitan of Cluj, Maramures and Salaj, His Grace Sofronie, Bishop of Oradea, His Grace Petroniu, Bishop of Salaj and His Grace Iustin Sigheteanul, Assistant Hierarch to the Diocese of Maramures and Satmar also celebrated, assisted by a group of priests and deacons.
To end with the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a sermon entitled The Holy Cross – power of the Resurrection and light of joy, in which he also emphasised the significance of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: “The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a feast of the entire Christianity, having been the oldest and most important of the Orthodox feasts dedicated to the veneration of the Holy Cross. On this day we celebrate, in fact, the remembrance of three special events in the history of the Holy Cross wood. First of all we celebrate the wonderful finding of the Holy Cross wood in Jerusalem, in 326, by Empress Helen, who entrusted it to Bishop Macarie of Jerusalem. Later on, in 335, Emperor Constantine the Great went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to participate in the consecration of the Resurrection Church on 13 September 335. Next day, on 14 September 335, Bishop Macarie of Jerusalem raised the Holy Cross on the church pulpit in front of the crowd, to commemorate the finding of the Holy Cross in 326, by the mother of Emperor Constantine, Empress Helen, passed away (329 or 330). This feast has become traditional ever since, having been listed in the calendar till nowadays. It was strengthened or confirmed in 629, when the Holy Cross, stolen by Persians in 614, was brought back to Jerusalem by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (575 – 641) who laid it, with great honour, in the Resurrection Church. Then, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Zachariah raised the Holy Cross again, in front of the crowd, and the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was re-confirmed as a victory of the Cross over the invading enemies, as well as over the invisible enemies, namely the demons”.
Saint Emperor Constantine and his mother Helen are celebrated this year in quite a special way by the Orthodox Romanians: “This year, 2013, is celebrated in the Romanian Patriarchate as a solemn year of Saints Emperors Constantine and Helen” at the anniversary of 1700 years since the proclamation of the Edict of religious freedom at Mediolanum (Milan) by Saint Emperor Constantine the Great, in 313. In our Orthodox iconography, Saints Emperors Constantine and Helen are represented with a cross between them, because Saint Emperor Constantine found the Cross, as a sign of light in the sky, while his mother, Helen, found the wooden Cross in the ground, in Jerusalem. Thus, we understand that the Holy Cross relates the heaven and earth through the never ending love of Christ for the world, in the never setting light of the Most Holy Trinity. Because the power of the saving love of God was shown through the Cross of Christ, we, the Christians, venerate the Holy Cross and cross ourselves when we pray in the morning, at noon and in the evening, whenever we start doing one work and when we finish it too, in time of trouble and of joy as well”, His Beatitude said.
His Beatitude Daniel emphasised the achievements of the clergy and faithful in Salaj region from 2007 till present: “The canonical visit that we are paying to this young eparchy of our Church in Salaj region enables us to see on the spot that the priorities that His Grace Bishop Petroniu presented on the occasion of his enthronement on 13 April 2008 have been implemented, for the glory of God and welfare of the eparchy. The most visible result of the urban administrative activity the eparchy unfolded under the supervision of His Grace Bishop Petroniu is the construction of the headquarters of the Eparchial Centre designed to house the Secretariat, Administration and other eparchial institutions where the employees of the eparchial centre can properly work. This eparchial seat is designed to become a means of strengthening the communion and unity between the hierarch and members of the eparchial administration, between the clergy and faithful of the eparchy, in view of accomplishing a fruitful mission from an administrative, pastoral-missionary, cultural-educational and social-philanthropic point of view”.
His Grace Bishop Petroniu has also delivered a speech in which he thanked His Beatitude Daniel for the visit paid to the Diocese of Salaj: “This is a unique day in the history of this part of the world because we are blessed with the visit of a Primate of our Church to Salaj county. Thus, I do thank His Beatitude for having accepted our invitation to consecrate the chapel dedicated to Saint Luke the Apostle and Evangelist of the Eparchial Centre of Zalau”.
Then, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel offered His Grace Bishop Petroniu an Episcopal kit: cross and engolpion, and a Holy Gospel for the Chapel of the Eparchial Centre of the Diocese of Salaj, bound in silver and email, a blessing cross and a kit of Holy Vessels, all of them made at the Printing Houses and Workshops of the Romanian Patriarchate. His Beatitude has also awarded several distinctions: Patriarchal Cross for clergymen, the highest distinction of the Romanian Patriarchate: to father Vasile Rus, Eparchial Vicar and to father Ionut Pop, Eparchial inspector.
His Grace Bishop Petroniu offered, in his turn, His Beatitude an icon of the Mother of God.
