On the last day of the summer school holiday, Patriarch Daniel pointed out that ‘spiritual and intellectual formation is the greatest richness of man, a treasure no one can take away from us.’
‘What we gathered in our soul through prayer, culture, education and good deeds remains eternally in our soul,’ the Patriarch of Romania said Sept. 8, 2019.
In his sermon on Sunday, His Beatitude highlighted the link between the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos and the beginning of the new school year, speaking about the nine years spent by the Virgin Mary in the girls’ education school at the Temple in Jerusalem.
Attending the Divine Liturgy at the Nativity of the Theotokos Church in Bucharest’s Drumul Taberei neighbourhood, the Romanian Patriarch offered a set of recommendations to students, but also to their parents and professors.
“We need to take care not only of material things for children. These are also necessary. But let us form a noble soul, an enlightened soul, a heart full of merciful love for people and full of gratitude to God.”
The Patriarch conveyed congratulations and his appreciation to parents and teachers ‘because children’s education is a great missionary work.’
‘It is a sacred work that is often less rewarded in this world, but blessed and rewarded by God in eternal life,’ His Beatitude said.
Recalling the words of the Saviour that ‘those who keep His commandments and teach others to fulfil them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven,’ Patriarch Daniel said:
‘Great will be called in the kingdom of heaven all male and female educators, teachers, and professors, and their greatness will increase as all children and young people instructed by them will become people with a lot of culture, faith and spiritual kindness, and will bring at the same time joy to the Church and the Romanian people.’
In his message for the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, the Patriarch reminded the decision of the Holy Synod to proclaim the year 2019 as a Solemn Year of the Romanian village due to the difficult situation of rural settlements and their inhabitants, and noted the contribution of the Church to change the current situation.
The Patriarch also gave the example of the writer and teacher Ion Creanga.
Photography courtesy of the Basilica.ro Archive
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