homily

Patriarch Daniel reflects on joy and peace at Agape Vespers on Pascha Sunday

On Pascha Sunday His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel officiated the Agape Vespers at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, during which he offered his reflections on joy and peace as two great blessings of the risen Christ. Concelebrants for the Agape Vespers included Bishop Qais of Erzurum (Antioch Patriarchate), the Patriarch’s auxiliary bishops Varlaam of Ploiesti and…

Apr 10, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Thousands attend Paschal midnight service in Bucharest: ‘This feast gives a meaning to the whole existence’

Thousands attended the Paschal midnight service officiated by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel Saturday night in Bucharest. Concelebrants for the service were His Grace Varlaam of Ploiesti, assistant bishop to the patriarch, and His Grace Timotei of Prahova, assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest. At midnight, the patriarch distributed to the believers the Holy Fire,…

Apr 10, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

The purpose of Eucharist brings us joy, not the understanding of the miracle: Patriarch Daniel on Maundy Thursday

During his homily delivered at the Divine Liturgy on Maundy Thursday, Patriarch Daniel offered his reflections on the Last Supper and the eucharistic miracle. ‘It is a Mystery that we will never fully understand.’ ‘But what is it that brings joy?,’ the patriarch asked. ‘Nut the understanding of how the bread and wine become the…

Apr 7, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

A pilgrim is an earthly passenger to the Kingdom of Heaven – Patriarch Daniel

During the traditional Palm Sunday procession, Patriarch Daniel spoke to the believers noting that ‘all humans are passengers for here they do not have an enduring city, being oriented towards the Kingdom of Heaven.‘ ‘How much light we have spread, how many flowers of faith we have cultivated, how many flowers of charity we have…

Apr 3, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

‘Prayer and fast change physical hunger and thirst into spiritual hunger and thirst for God’s love’, Patriarch Daniel says

During his homily delivered on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent at the Chapel of the National Cathedral, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said that ‘prayer united with fasting changes man’s physical hunger and thirst into a spiritual hunger and thirst for the love of God.’ The Patriarch of Romania offered his reflections on the day’s…

Mar 20, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

‘Let us make Christ the centre of our lives,’ Patriarch Daniel urges on 3rd Sunday of Lent

The symbolism of the cross, the reason why the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross is in the middle of the Lenten season, the conditions for being a good Christian are the main topics addressed by Patriarch Daniel in his homily on the third Sunday of Great Lent. In his sermon, the Romanian Patriarch…

Mar 12, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

20th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of St Matrona. Patriarch Kirill: ‘Let us transform sorrow into spiritual power and inner joy’

Twenty years have passed since the uncovering of the relics of Saint Matrona of Moscow, one of the most popular contemporary Russian Saints whose feast day was recently added to the calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church. To mark this important event for Moscow’s Intercession (Pokrovsky) Monastery where the holy relics of St Matrona are…

Mar 12, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

‘Holy icons are the full profession of true faith in the Church,’ Patriarch Daniel says on Sunday of Orthodoxy

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, also called the Sunday of Orthodoxy, Patriarch Daniel pointed to the importance of holy icons in the Orthodox Church. They are not ‘a mere adornment in the church, but rather the full profession of the true faith in the Church: witness through words and witness through sight, because…

Feb 26, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch’s Homily on the Opening of Great Lent. ‘Whoever truly loves God also loves one’s neighbour everywhere’

CATECHETICAL HOMILY ON THE OPENING OF HOLY AND GREAT LENT 2018 + B A R T H O L O M E W By God’s Mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch To the Plenitude of the Church May the Grace and Peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Together with our Prayer,…

Feb 24, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel officiates Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete. ‘Great Lent is a school of repentance’

Repentance was the main theme of Patriarch Daniel’s homily delivered Monday evening at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest. ‘The Great Lent is a school of repentance,’ because it is ‘a mystical partaking of the Saviour’s forty-day fast,’ and a struggle against the tendencies inherited from our first parents Adam and Eve, especially ‘the tendency to…

Feb 22, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel at the beginning of Great Lent: In order to forgive our neighbour we need to crucify our egoism and open our soul unto resurrection

During his Sunday homily, Patriarch Daniel stressed the importance of forgiveness of those who have wronged us, noting that this is ‘the good beginning of the Lenten season,’ through which we resemble the Compassionate and Forgiving God. His Beatitude said that ‘forgiveness of sins often implies the crucifixion of our own egoism, opening our soul…

Feb 21, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu