Several ceremonies including a solemn Divine Liturgy, a Te Deum service and a wreath-laying ceremony were held Sunday on the Patriarchate’s Hill in Bucharest to mark the 162nd founding anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities.
Attending the ceremonies, Patriarch Daniel spoke about the contribution of the Romanian Orthodox Church to ‘this fundamental act of our history.’
The day started with a solemn Divine Liturgy celebrated at the Patriarchal Cathedral by the patriarchal auxiliary bishop Varlaam of Ploiesti.
Prayers were offered for Ruler Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Metropolitans Nifon of Wallachia and Sofronie Miclescu of Moldavia, and all the founders of the Union of the Romanian Principalities.
A Te Deum service followed as a thanksgiving to God for the achievement of this fundamental act in the national history of Romania.
During his speech, Patriarch Daniel said that the Union of the Romanian Principalities “meant the culmination of an entire process of cultivating the national unity of Romanians, a process in which the Romanian Orthodox Church made an essential contribution.”
“The union of January 24, 1859, was in fact “the Fundamental Union”, not “the Small Union” because it was the basis for the formation of the Romanian unitary state, in 1862, called ROMANIA, the foundation for obtaining Romanian national independence after the War of Independence in 1877, a foundation for the elevation of Romania to the rank of Kingdom in 1881, and especially a foundation for the Great Union of December 1, 1918, at Alba-Iulia, as Union of Transylvania with Romania, preceded by the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, on March 27, 1918, and the Union of Bukovina with Romania, on November 28, 1918 ”.
The day concluded with a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Ruler Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza on the Hill of the Patriarchate.
Photography courtesy of Raluca Ene / Basilica.ro
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