17 priests from the Archdiocese of Bucharest were invested spiritual fathers on Wednesday, 02 March 2016.
His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Ortodox Church, officiated the service in the historical Parekklesion of the Patriarchal Residence dedicated to St Great Martyr George.
The spiritual father is a doctor who heals spiritual wounds
In his word, His Beatitude spoke about the spirtual father’s responsibility. The Patriarch of Romania emphasised the fact that it is “a great responsibility and, at the same time, a great blessing because the spiritual father is the one who helps his spiritual sons and daughters to spiritually improve”. “The spiritual father is a doctor who heals spiritual wounds”, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church underlined.
“The spiritual father does not loosen sins in a mechanical way, he is similar a doctor treating the wounds of the soul and heals them spiritually, helping at the same time the spiritual sons and daughters to ascend in their spiritual life. Someone said: «If you give me good spiritual fathers, we will change the (face of the) world». The change is not done from the exterior, but the true change of the man is made from the inside, from his awareness founded on the light of faith. So, the spiritual father strengthens the spiritual life of others through advices, but also through prayer”, His Beatitude said.
The ministry of a confessor father is one of spiritual benefit
His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, urged the young spiritual fathers at reading the Holy Bible and the Life of the Saints as a help in offering advice to the faithful, emphasizing the fact that “the ministry of a spiritual father is one of spiritual benefit”.
Regarding the ministry of the spiritual father, giving St. John Climacus of Sinai as an example, His Beatitude also said that spiritual maturity is more important than the biological age, because the gift of God is offered to people according to their desire to grow spiritually.
