His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel on Thursday pointed to the example given by the Honourable Forerunner and Baptist John to defend moral values.
In his homily, the patriarch recalled that St John is ‘a protector of family integrity’.
He is considered the defender of families because he fought against countless vices and moral disorder. That is why, it is now our duty ‘to keep family unity’, His Beatitude stressed August 29.
Saint John also rebuked the “transgressors and was on the side of the oppressed and marginalized”. These traits promote him as a defender of social justice.
‘His sermon was spiritual and social at the same time,’ the Patriarch said calling St John the Baptist ‘a teacher of repentance and a fervent intercessor’.
“He is a teacher of repentance because he will intercede for us on the Day of Judgment and he prays for those who want to change their lives, and renew their souls.”
Final major celebration of the Ecclesiastical Year
‘The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist is the last celebration of the Ecclesiastical Year which begins on September 1 and ends on August 31.’
‘Saint John is particularly honoured in the Orthodox Church,’ because he plays an important role in the economy of human salvation. That is why there are 6 feast days dedicated to St John, three of which are more important and marked with a red colour in the calendar.
He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
– John the Baptist (Luke 3:11) pic.twitter.com/fzAknkNS69— Basilica.ro (EN) (@BasilicaNews) August 29, 2019
In the Romanian Orthodox Church, it is common to mark important feasts in the church calendar with a red colour and a small cross to help believers differentiate church celebrations and adapt to church regulations.
The Patriarch also recalled if the three findings of the honourable head of Saint John.
The Patriarch of Romania presided over the Divine Liturgy at the outdoor altar of his patriarchal residence on the feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.
Photography courtesy of Lumina Newspaper / Mihnea Păduraru
