Romanians from Sacramento experienced moments of spiritual joy and Romanian pride at the occasion of the Symposium “Celebrating the Great Union”.
Organized by the Holy Resurrection Romanian Orthodox Church of Sacramento, under the auspices of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas and in the presence of HE Metropolitan Nicolae, the Symposium marked the Year of the Centenary of the Great Union with a Te-Deum service, three presentations, an exhibition of photographs from those times, and patriotic songs.
The celebration took place at Carmichael Park at 5750 Grant Avenue, Sacramento, on Monday, September 3, 2018.
HE Metropolitan Nicolae, together with Fr. Teodor Garlonta, the parish priest of the Holy Resurrection Church, and Father Octavian Mahler of the Resurrection of the Lord Church in Hayward, performed the Te-Deum service as a thanksgiving to God for all the blessings bestowed on the Romanian people from all the world. HE Nicolae addressed a short word in which he remembered the Celebration of the Centenary of the Great Union in the Romanian Orthodox Church by declaring the year 2018 as the Homage year of the unity of faith and nation and the Commemorative year of the Union’s creators.
The first speaker was professor Ioan Aurel Pop, the rector of Babeş Bolyai University in Cluj and the president of the Romanian Academy. Academician Pop delighted the audience with an exhilarating presentation of the event of the Great Union, reminding the personalities who contributed to the fulfillment of this dream of the Romanians from all the Romanian countries. The president of the Romanian Academy remembered the historical stages that led to the Great Union on December 1, 1918, namely the Declaration of Unity of the Sfatul Tarii of Bessarabia of March 27, 1918, and the Motion of the General Congress of Bukovinafor union with the Motherland on November 28, 1918. The recitation of some poems from the Romanian poets completed the beautiful presentation of Academician Ioan Aurel Pop.
The second speaker, Mr. Sebastian Doreanu, Romanian historian in Denver, Colorado, presented the theme of The Contribution of the Romanian Clergy in Transylvania to the realization of the Great Union. The presentation was accompanied by a slide show with photos of priests and personalities participating in World War I and the events of the Great Union. Mr. Doreanu outlined the portrait and mission of several Romanian priests involved in these events.
The third speaker was Mr. Octavian Gabor, professor of philosophy at Methodist College, Peoria, Illinois. The theme of the presentation was Nationalism between solar systems and constellations. In a philosophical language, Mr. Gabor initiated the listeners in a reflection on the issue of identity. The difference between person and individual was presented in the paradigm of solar systems and constellations.
The Symposium was also attended by Mr. Cosmin Dumitrescu, the Consul General of Romania in Los Angeles, who expressed the joy of presenting some thoughts about the event of the Great Union.
On behalf of HE Archbishop Irineu of Alba Iulia, present at the Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the United States of America in Chicago in July 2018, HE Metropolitan Nicolae offered to Mrs. Ioana Groza, the main organizer of the Symposium, the order Donum Sacrum Unitatis and the Cross for laymen, established on the occasion of the Centenary. Young people from Holy Resurrection Romanian Orthodox parish added to the celebration several patriotic songs.
Photo credit: Romarch.org
