On Easter night, the V. Rev. Archimandrite Melchisedec Velnic spoke about the ancestors’ call for a national resurrection. But “a resurrection of the people cannot be achieved without God’s people,” said Mihai Eminescu. It will be possible only if we put Christ and His name in everything. This will enlighten each of us, and the entire Romanian nation, said the archimandrite.
The abbot of Putna Monastery referred to the Pastoral Letter of the Holy Synod for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which noted that the Year 2021 “offers the opportunity to manifest more intensely the love and longing for fellow Romanians abroad, but also the opportunity to show care for those who have passed away from this life.”
For this purpose, a symbolic event is being prepared at Putna Monastery, which will occur on August 15, 2021: “150 years since the celebration of 1871. Continuity of an ideal”. It will reiterate the First Celebration of Romanians Everywhere organized by Mihai Eminescu at Putna 150 years ago.
The Holy Synod, in its Pastoral Letter for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, mentioned that the purpose of the event is to affirm and strengthen the unity of Romanians in the country and abroad and “to strengthen fraternal ties, the communion of love and joint work for the common good of the Romanian people.”
The celebration of 1871 was attended by the writer Ioan Slavici, the musician Ciprian Porumbescu, the historian A.D. Xenopol. Then “the goal was none other than to show the whole world that we had a past and we will have a future,” Archimandrite Melchisedec said.
What the Romanian students thought then “took place in almost 50 years, the Great Union, because they said: first the union in faith and culture. And so it was done,” he added.
Now, however, “we are too dispersed, we are too scattered, we have often closed the door of God’s mercy, we have closed the door of love for our neighbour, our faith falters, our culture, education are set aside and you know too well what the textbooks of History and of Romanian Literature contain,” said the abbot.
“Therefore, I believe that our holy ancestors speak to us this year and urge for a national resurrection, for an awakening of the nation from this numbness,” the archimandrite urged.
“A resurrection, Mihai Eminescu would say, an uprising of the people, cannot be achieved without God’s people. This is the conscience of the great Eminescu.”
“We are Christians and have a duty to be witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ. Let us not cling our hearts to the transient things, but let us cling our hearts to what our holy ancestors loved. And, in this way, we will have a lot of peace,” Archimandrite Melchisedec said.
“The good governance of the country must be placed on the strong foundation of the love of the nation, the love of the country, the love for our holy ancestral values, the love for the faith and for the soul of this people. We did not resist in history otherwise,” he added.
“Do not forget to confess Christ in deed and word. Let our thoughts be in His name, and His name will enlighten us, will give us light in our souls, light in our minds and the light will rule our entire Romanian nation,” Archimandrite Melchisedec concluded.
Photography courtesy of Facebook / Putna Monastery
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