15,000 believers present at Divine Liturgy on the Feast of Pious Saint Paraskeva of Iași

Aurelian Iftimiu – Basilica News Agency – 21/101/16

Thousands of faithful from all across Romania participated Friday, 14 October 2016, in the Divine Liturgy, officiated in Iași on the Feast of Pious Saint Paraskeva the New. Representatives of state and local authorities also took part in the event.

Other several thousands of believers stood in a three-kilometre line to get to bow down before the relics of Saint Paraskeva and Saint Neophyte the Recluse from Cyprus, Doxologia marketing officer, Ioana Stoian, reports.

His Eminence Athanasios, Metropolitan of Limassol (Orthodox Church of Cyprus) presided over the Divine Liturgy. Almost thirty hierarchs from home and abroad concelebrated:

• His Eminence Teofan, Metropolitan of Moldova and Bukovina
• His Eminence Anthimos, Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis
• His Eminence John, Metropolitan of Koritsá
• His Eminence Laurenţiu, Metropolitan of Transylvania
• His Eminence Irineu, Metropolitan of Oltenia
• His Eminence Petru, Metropolitan of Bessarabia and Exarch of the Territories
• His Eminence Hon Metropolitan Nifon, Archbishop of Târgovişte and Patriarchal Exarch
• His Eminence Teodosie, Archbishop of Tomis
• His Eminence Pimen, Archbishop of Suceava and Rădăuţi
• His Eminence Ioachim, Archbishop of Roman and Bacău
• His Eminence Ciprian, Archbishop of Buzău and Vrancea
• His Eminence Casian, Archbishop of Lower Danube
• His Grace Qais, Bishop of Erzurum and Assistant to the Patriarch of Antioch
• His Grace Arsenie, Bishop of Zneapol and Assistant to the Metropolitan of Plovdiv
• His Grace Corneliu, Bishop of Huşi
• His Grace Lucian, Bishop of Caransebeş
• His Grace Nicodim, Bishop of Severin and Strehaia
• His Grace Vincenţiu, Bishop of Slobozia and Călăraşi
• His Grace Andrei, Bishop of Covasna and Harghita
• His Grace Galaction, Bishop of Alexandria and Teleorman
• His Grace Petroniu, Bishop of Sălaj
• His Grace Gurie, Bishop of Deva and Hunedoara
• His Grace Macarie, Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Northern Europe
• His Grace Mihail, Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Australia and New Zealand
• His Grace Ieronim of Sinaia, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch of Romania
• His Grace Antonie of Orhei, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Chişinău
• His Grace Emilian of Lovişte, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Râmnic.

Following the gospel reading, His Eminence Athanasios, Metropolitan of Limassol, delivered a homily.

Saint Paraskeva and Saint Neophyte are a proof that when man loves Christ, he lacks nothing else. On the contrary, when Christ is absent from the heart, man becomes unhappy, regardless of his belongings. Observing and studying the lives of the saints, we can judge our own lives. We receive a model and example of living, we are quickened by the Spirit, and we can follow them and become lovers of God. Remembering the Saints means following them and imitating them, Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol said.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Archbishop of Târgoviște read out the blessing message conveyed by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, to the pilgrims present in Iași.

Next, Metropolitan Teofan awarded several families with many children from Romania and the Republic of Moldova the Moldavian Cross.

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