Today, 19 May 2013, the 3rd Sunday after Easter, also named of the women of myrrh, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, participated in the Divine Liturgy celebrated at Țigănești Monastery, county of Ilfov.
In the sermon delivered, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel spoke to the faithful present about the courage of the myrrh bearing women who have come to anoint the body of Christ, our Saviour, with myrrh: “These women that brought very precious spices were the most courageous human beings in the morning of Christ’s Resurrection. While the apostles, the fearful disciples, gathered in a house and stood there locked, for fear not to be persecuted by the Jews because they were the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, the myrrh bearing women manifested great courage, faced the unknown and went to the grave. This is why, Christ, our Lord, entrusted them, through His angel, the mission to announce His Resurrection to His disciples, so that they should announce it to all peoples”, informs Trinitas Radio station.
Due to their faith, courage and lowliness, His Beatitude Daniel said, the myrrh bearing women have become true teachers of the Church. Their example was followed by many women, in the course of time. From empresses, such as Saint Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, till ordinary women, from that time till nowadays. This is why on the Sunday of the myrrh bearing women our Church celebrates all the Christian women: “Today lots of Christian women grow children although we pass through a very big economical and spiritual crisis. Lots of women work in hospitals, medical and social-philanthropic settlements. Lots of women are Religion teachers and teaching other disciplines too, with faith and much devotion. A lot of women work in arts, sciences and administration. All these women are faithful not only on Sunday, but also during the week. Those who confess their faith in the Crucified Christ not only on Sunday, but also during the week at their jobs or in the family, resemble the myrrh bearing women, the women blessed by Christ through their meeting with him in the morning of His Resurrection”, His Beatitude said.
To end with, the Patriarch of Romania congratulated the abbess of Țigănești Monastery and the monastic community too and addressed all the Christian women words of gratitude and blessing for their beneficial work in the family, Church and society.
“Today, we address words of appreciation and blessing to all the faithful women in the families, monasteries, and all fields of activity. We pray Jesus Christ, our Saviour, so that the prayers of the holy myrrh bearing women and of all saints should give them good health and joy in their lives and in the holy missionary work of faith, especially in a world more and more secularised and divided. The Christian women in the family and in monasteries too confirm the fact that the Risen Christ is present in His Church and that He helps us when we do not expect. The myrrh bearing women become our teachers also because they teach us to hope first of all in God and then in the people”, His Beatitude Daniel also said, as Trinitas Television informs us.
