As a token of love and honour for those who sacrificed their lives during the First World War, the Romanian priest in Munster, Germany, went to the memorial cemetery in Dülmen with Easter candles and prayed for the souls of the departed.
‘This year, on the second day of Easter, I went together with our parish’s vestryman George Toderita to bring them the Easter Light and to chant Christ is risen,’ Fr Dimitrie Ursache told the Basilica News Agency.
‘After serving without believers due to the situation caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, now we sang Christ is risen being surrounded by heroes. It was a unique feeling! May their memory be eternal from generation to generation!’
Father Dimitrie spoke of the Romanian heroes buried at Dülmen as members of his congregation.
‘With great surprise, I found out in May 2018 that our parish has 44 more souls than I knew. Forty-four Romanian heroes rest in eternal sleep in the Dulmen cemetery. I went there one night to convince myself. Emotions overwhelmed me reading the Romanian names on the tombstones. Since then, we started officiating a memorial service for their souls at least on Heroes’ Remembrance Day.’
The forty-four Romanian soldiers were taken prisoners during WWI and died because of injuries, famine or illnesses.
Photography courtesy of the Romanian Orthodox Parish in Munster, Germany
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