The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Spiridon – the New Celebrated its Saint Patron

Today, 12 December 2012, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Spiridon – the New, celebrated its saint patron. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Grace Varsanufie Prahoveanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest, assisted by a group of priests and deacons.

To end with the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church delivered a sermon in which he eulogized the personality of Saint Spiridon: “Saint Hierarch Spiridon was a humble man and a fighter too. He defended Christian faith in the pagan world and he was a devoted man. He made wonders in his time and helped the poor. He is a healer, a helper and takes good care of those who ask for his help. He passed away when 78, on 12 December, and his relics are in Corfu Island, where Saint Spiridon enjoys special worship”.

His Beatitude has also spoken about the wonder that Saint Hierarch Spiridon made when after saying a prayer, the brick he was holding in his hand decomposed, showing in this way the people the Mystery of the Holy Trinity.

“Saint Hierarch Spiridon turned out to be a great supporter of the right faith due to the fact that although he was not educated from the point of view of his studies, he had strong faith and the light of the Holy Spirit, so that he faced the speakers, the Arian philosophers who said that Jesus was not a creature of God, that He was not God of one essence with the Father, but a deified man. Saint Hierarch Spiridon wished to show that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the True God, each of these Three unseparated Persons made a wonder with the help of God, namely: he took a brick in his hand, and after saying a prayer, while still holding it in his hand fire got out of the brick, water poured down and he remained with the mud in his hand, showing in this way that the brick although only one, it was made up of three distinct unseparated elements. Saint Hierarch Spiridon appears in the Orthodox iconography holding the brick in his right hand, out of which fire is burning, and water pouring down, showing in this way what the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is, certainly higher than the human mind’s understanding”.

His Beatitude has also shown that Saint Spiridon is the protector of several medical centres, as well as of several churches, two of them in Bucharest: “Saint Hierarch Spiridon is also known and worshipped as protector of several medical centres. We have such an example in Iasi where the big hospital named Spiridonia has a church. The church was made first, and then the hospital. Saint Spiridon is also the saint of several Orthodox philanthropic associations where the sick and poor are helped. In Bucharest, too, there is the remembrance of an such a settlement protected by Saint Hierarch Spiridon. In Bucharest there are two well known churches with Saint Hierarch Spiridon as saint patron. Saint Spiridon – the old is a modest church which used to be a metokion of the Patriarchate of Antioch when the patriarchs of Antioch, under Ottoman domination at the time, came to Bucharest and lived at their metokion. It was demolished in the time of the communist regime, but rebuilt from the scratch during the pastoral rule of the worthy remembering Patriarch Teoctist. Patriarch of Antioch, who has recently passed away, Ignatios IV Hazim has also attended its consecration. So, the church of Saint Spiridon the Old is well known and so is the church of Saint Spiridon the New. Both churches have particles of the relics of Saint Spiridon.” At the same time, the Patriarch of Romania underlined the relationship between Saint Hierarch Nicholas and Saint Hierarch Spiridon in the context of the present period of preparation for the feast of the Nativity of the Lord, in which we are now: “the feast of Saint Hierarch Spiridon is on 12 December and has a special significance for the philanthropic work of the Church at present, because Saint Spiridon is, just like Saint Nicholas, a merciful saint. Saint Nicholas is celebrated on 6 December, and Saint Spiridon on 12 December, 6 days one after another. Both of them teach us to be merciful, to help the poor, to show the good merciful humble love of Christ, Christ using our hands for helping the poor, sick and distressed, for comforting the grieved ones. So, in this time when the weather is getting cold, when people need more encouragement, the two saints, Nicholas and Spiridon are a sort of forerunners of Santa Clause which means the personification of the merciful love of God-the-Father who loved the world so much that he sent His One Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that anybody who believes in Him should not die, but have eternal life, as the Gospel according to Saint Evangelist John says.

The faithful who attended the Divine Liturgy could pray to a particle of the relics of Saint Hierarch Spiridon of Trimitunda, kept in the holy place of worship.

This church was built from 1852 – 1858, on the place of an older church built in 1767, and consecrated on 8 November 1860. Inside the church there are marble columns, and stained glasses of Bible scenes and saints, executed in Vienna. The oil painting is made with influences of the Renaissance by the great painter Gheorghe Tattarescu, in 1862. The Cathedral got back its former brilliance due to the renovation works done during the last few years with the blessing of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

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