On the first day of the year, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church officially proclaimed the year 2015 as Solemn year of the parish and monastery mission today and as Commemorative year of Saint John Chrysostom and of the great shepherds of souls in the eparchies of the Romanian Patriarchate.
After singing the troparion of Saint John Chrysostom, His Grace Varlaam Ploiesteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch read the official proclamation document.
The Patriarch of Romania delivered a sermon in which he showed that because this year it is 130 years since the recognition of the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church and 90 years since the raising of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the rank of Patriarchate, the pastoral mission of our Church must be intensified.
The parish, His Beatitude explained, is the great spiritual family of conjugal families: “From a spiritual point of view, the parish is the community where those to be saved through Baptism, Unction, and Eucharist have become Orthodox Christians. In the parish we learn, just like in the family, to pray together, to enjoy together, and to have compassion for those who pass through the sufferance and sorrow caused by the loss of their dear ones. The parish is the great spiritual family of the conjugal families. The relationship between generations is cultivated in the parish through the remembrance service for the dead. The faithful of the parish cultivate a deep understanding of the holy sense of the life and death through the experience of the Eucharistic Liturgy and of the spiritual life. The Romanian Orthodox parishes taught a lot of young people to love the spiritual, moral and cultural values of Orthodoxy and of the Romanian culture.
His Beatitude has also shown the missionary work of the Romanian monasticism: “The first missionary work of monasticism is prayer.
In spite of all the difficulties from the past and present, the monasteries are bright landmarks and sources of spiritual power for the mission of the Church in society, due to the spiritual experience accumulated, mentioned especially in the pages of the Pateric and Philocalia, and kept alive in the communities based on obedience, assumption of personal poverty and of the physical and spiritual purity.
One of the great shepherds of souls is Saint John Chrysostom. At the same time, this year our Church will celebrate in quite a special way the Romanian Saints who distinguished themselves through a beautiful pastoral activity, whose lives are models for today’s faithful.
During the working sessions of 29 October 2013 and 29 September 2014, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church approved that the year 2015, should be declared as Solemn year of the mission in the parish and monastery today, and as Commemorative year of Saint John Chrysostom and of the great shepherds of souls in eparchies.
