Today, 7 January 2014, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church was present at the celebration of the Synaxis of Saint John the Baptist the Prophet with the faithful present at the Icon church of Bucharest which celebrated its saint patron.
The Patriarch of Romania delivered a sermon in which he spoke about the virtues of Saint John the Baptist showing that he was formed at the school of wilderness, prayer and fasting. He was wearing clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist and spent his life rather praying and fasting. When aged 30, God sent him to preach repentance in the Jordan wilderness. He called all people to repent and they came to him from all over Judaea and Jerusalem. Many of them were listening to his sermons and they were baptised with the baptism of repentance which was a preparation for the Baptism of Christ, namely the Christian baptism.
The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church emphasised the fact that the baptism Saint John the Baptist practiced was the awareness of the need of forgiveness, salvation, rid of sins and death. Saint John the Baptist preaches in wilderness and gathers the crowds to the river Jordan to be baptised. His sermon is simple but firm: “Repent because the Kingdom of God is coming close”.
To end with, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel offered parish priest Ion Popescu several liturgical and theological books for the Icon church. His Beatitude has also expressed his hope that the spiritual, social and educational activity developed at this church should “become an icon for other people too, as well as a model of mission. For example, the icon taken to the houses of the faithful every year is a missionary work which confirms the fact that we, the Orthodox, confess Jesus Christ both through Creed, and through the icon. The icon is a liturgical evidence of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, our Saviour”.
Parish priest Ion Popescu offered, in his turn, His Beatitude Daniel an icon of the Mother of God and thanked His Beatitude for his presence at his parish, on behalf of the faithful and of the servant priests: Rev Nicolae Necula – professor at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of Bucharest and Rev Liviu Nechita – Patriarchal Counsellor.
