On October 15, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel presided over a Te Deum service at the Cathedral of Alba Iulia commemorating the 100th anniversary of the coronation of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie.
The celebration began with the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the centennial of the Coronation on the west side of the cathedral’s bell tower. The Archbishop of Alba Iulia, Irineu, blessed the plaque.
Her Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and Prince Consort Radu of Romania attended the thanksgiving prayers. Several hierarchs were also present, notably Metropolitan Laurențiu of Transylvania and Metropolitan Andrei of Cluj, Maramureș, and Sălaj.
In a speech, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel emphasised that the Royal Coronation in Alba Iulia signified the consecration of the Great Union of the Romanian people.
“It is an opportunity to recall the crucial role of this city symbol in the birth, cultivation, and transmission of the consciousness of national unity and identity of the Romanian people, a mission enshrined by the achievement here of the first union of the three Romanian countries under the rule of Michael the Brave in 1600, and the Great Union of Transylvania with Romania, on December 1, 1918,” Patriarch Daniel said.
His Beatitude underlined in his message that “collective memory is short, particularly when a nation experiences collective traumas: wars, oppressive totalitarian regimes, critical periods, such as the communist period, which manipulated consciences through aggressive atheistic propaganda, attempting to destroy faith and erase the historical truth of the contribution of the Romanian kings to the realisation of the ideal of freedom and unity of the Romanian people.”
“In comparison to other European peoples, Romanians have fewer ‘places of memory’ associated with the past. Alba Iulia is one of these locations!” the Romanian Patriarch stated.
“A visible, physical monument intended to preserve alive in our memory and that of our descendants the respect and gratitude for the sacrifice of our predecessors who gave their lives for the realisation of the independence and unity of the Romanian people.”
The message of Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă was then given by the Prime Minister’s envoy.
The ceremony concluded with the discharge of tricolour fireworks atop the Cathedral of the Coronation’s bell tower.
Queen Marie’s statue was unveiled and consecrated in Citadel Square in the afternoon.
Photography courtesy of Alba Iulia Archdiocese
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