The first patronal feast of the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral will be celebrated on November 30, 2018, on the feast day of Saint Andrew the First Called, who is also the Cathedral’s patron saint and the protector of Romania.
The celebrations, including the Divine Liturgy, will be led by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine.
The National Cathedral’s project dates back to 1884, when Romania’s first King Carol I promulgated the Law of the Cathedral Church, which has never been abrogated ever since.
In order to solemnly mark the consecration of the People’s Salvation Cathedral, the Romanian Patriarchate has scheduled several spiritual, liturgical, and cultural manifestations that will take place on Nov. 25 – Nov. 30, 2018.
As earlier announced, the consecration ceremony of the National Cathedral, built as a homage to all Romanian heroes from all times, will be presided over by His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. The ceremony will take place on November 25.
His Holiness will be the only Orthodox Primate to attend the National Cathedral’s consecration ceremony besides His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.
Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem will arrive to Romania on November 29 to preside over the National Cathedral’s patronal feast celebrations.
St Andrew’s holy relics will be brought from Greece
The honourable hand of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint of the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral, will be brought from Greece to Bucharest.
His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostom of Patra will bring the holy relics that will be enshrined for veneration at the National Cathedral.
Saint Andrew is highly venerated in Romania, being considered the Apostle to the Romanians or the Enlightener of the Romanian people.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church resolved in 1995 to mark the feast day of St Andrew with a red cross in the local church calendar. In 1997, the Synod declared Saint Andrew the Protector of Romania.
St Andrew’s feast day became a national church holiday, following the resolution of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church on November 14, 2001. In 2012, the day became a national holiday by law.
Building the National Cathedral in Bucharest
The construction of the Cathedral was assumed by the Romanian state as a project of national importance by Law 376/2000. Approximatively 100 million euros costed the building process from 2010 to 2018.
Hundreds of workers are involved in the building process. The next important step will be the installation of the six bells at the end of August.
Although the building of the National Cathedral remains a priority of the Romanian Orthodox Church, social activities of over 150 million euros were carried out by the Church in the last 10 years.
Patriarch Theophilos visited Bucharest in 2014
The last time when Patriarch Theophilos III visited Bucharest was in 2014 at the celebrations of Saint Demetrius the New, when he brought for veneration a particle of the Honourable Wood of the Holy Cross.
‘I do not have enough words to express my thanks for your cordial spontaneous, very warm, and brotherly hospitality,’ His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem said at his departure from Romania in October 2014.
Photos: Basilica.ro
