2011 – Homage year of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony
Your Beatitude president,
Holy Synod,
Distinguished participants,
Following the initiative of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided, during the working session of 6 July 2010, that the year 2011 should be proclaimed “Homage Year of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony”. During the same meeting, the church national frame-programme, drafted in 7 points, needed for implementing this spiritual-religious, cultural-editorial and media project at the level of the church units of the Romanian Patriarchate, in the country and abroad, as well as of those belonging to the theological education, was also approved. The main motivation of this decision was to sustain and promote the teaching of faith on the two Holy Sacraments, to affirm the role of the Christian family from a religious spiritual cultural and social point of view, as well as to defend it when faced with the challenges of the contemporary secularised context. Within this project, the eparchial centres and central media institutions had the responsibility to publish and publicise this frame-programme, as well as to communicate to the Holy Synod Office how it was implemented.
The analysis of the data communicated by the eparchies and by Basilica Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate presents a beautiful imagine of the activity unfolded in the Romanian Patriarchate, dedicated to the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony. At the level of each eparchy and institution subordinated, as well as of the theological educational ones, the Homage Year of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony was marked, in general, by religious cultural scientific educational and pastoral-missionary manifestations, some of them ongoing. The present report sums up some of the most important programmes of this long range of projects and events dedicated to the two Holy Sacraments, in order to make a concise illustrative presentation.
From a religious-spiritual and pastoral-missionary point of view, the frame-programme was implemented through many actions and programmes. We render below some of them:
– His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel addressed messages to the participants in various cultural-educational events (symposiums, congresses, pastoral panels etc.) dedicated to the Holy Baptism, Holy Matrimony or to the Christian family;
– In 2011, “Basilica Travel” Pilgrimage Agency of the Romanian Patriarchate has organised, several thematic pilgrimages in Israel, Jordan and Sinai Peninsula, for the clergy and faithful;
– During the synaxis of the abbots and abbesses of the monastic places of worship, the semestral pastoral-missionary conferences, the meetings with the chaplain and missionary priests, with the religion teachers and members of the teaching staff of the theological educational units held in the 42 eparchies of the Romanian Orthodox Churches, reports were presented on the importance of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony in the life of the Orthodox Church, as well as on the values of the traditional Christian family and on the need to promote them with the faithful.
– National and international scientific symposiums of canonical, dogmatic, patristic and Christian spirituality dedicated to the Holy Baptism and to the Holy Matrimony or to the Christian family have been organised in the 15 faculties and departments of Orthodox theology, as well as in the 39 Orthodox Theological Seminaries in the country;
– Following the advice of the hierarchs, the parishes initiated and promoted programmes of prayer and catechises, speeches, Bible meditations and free discussions, and watched documentaries on the importance of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony in the life of the Orthodox Church, as well as on the values of the Christian traditional family and the need to promote them with the faithful;
– Summer camps or of creation have been organised with the blessing of the hierarchs unfolding spiritual and cultural religious actions dedicated to the two Holy Sacraments; exhibitions of icons painted by participants have been organised too;
– All the eparchial and parochial centres promoted and sustained painting activity and icon printing; brochures and materials designed to know and deepen the importance of the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony as well as the values of the Christian traditional family in the life of the Orthodox Church have been drafted;
– Various social philanthropic programmes for the poor families, families with only one parent, with many children or parents working abroad have been achieved through the synodal and eparchial social philanthropic programmes in the majority of the eparchies, parishes and monasteries;
– The programme for establishing – at the eparchies level – brotherly relations among parishes was increased, developing common philanthropic activities with the poor parishes in the rural areas and organising thematic pilgrimages and granting financial and material aids, especially to the children coming from modest families or with hard conditions of life.
From a cultural editorial and religious educational point of view, the frame programme was materialised in the following events and activities:
– Following the initiative of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, in 2011, the first publication of the Publishing House of the Bible Orthodox Mission Institute of the Romanian Patriarchate was the commented translation of the speech “On the Baptism” of Saint Basil the Great, by hieromonk Dr. Policarp Pîrvuloiu.
– Many books dedicated to the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony have been published by the eparchial and metropolitan centres, out of which we mention the “Joy of the Blessed Matrimony. Catechises for the Christian Family”, appeared with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel at “Cuvântul vieţii” publishing house of the Metropolitanate of Muntenia and Dobrudgea.
– The eparchial centres, in close collaboration with the institutions of theological education or some other public institutions have organised congresses and colloquies dedicated to the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony where outstanding guests from the country and abroad participated with scientific lectures (Archdiocese of Bucharest, Archdiocese of Tomis, Archdiocese of Iaşi, Archdiocese of Sibiu, Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj, Archdiocese Râmnic, Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the Americas, Diocese of Caransebeş, Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Oradea, Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe). The communications presented have already been published or will be soon published.
– In the state high school, the religion teachers used the religion class also to emphasise the importance of the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony in the life of the Orthodox Church in a society more and more secularised. In this sense, this year, the curriculum of the religion class also included special lectures dedicated to these two Sacraments.
– The third edition of the Religion National Olympic contest had the Homage Year of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony as theme;
– The theological – educational Department of the Romanian Patriarchate organised, within the catechistic programme entitled “Christ Shared with the Children”, the National Contest of Christian creation “The Child in the Family” on the theme “My Baptism”. This contest structured in two parts – literary creation and artistic creation – was unfolded in several stages in the whole country, with the participation of over 100,000 young people and children, aged from 10 to 16. The winners of this contest were awarded the diploma of honour “Saints Constantine and Helen the Emperors” in the Patriarchal Cathedral, on the occasion of the celebration of its saint patron (Saturday, 21 May 2011). The supervising priests and professors have also been awarded the same diploma.
– The eparchial and parochial magazines on the sites of the Romanian Patriarchate have also included articles on the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony, which publicised the teaching of these two Holy Sacraments, emphasising some canonical liturgical and homiletic aspects of the two Holy Sacraments, as well as the importance of the values of the Christian traditional family and the need to promote them in a society more and more secularised. The pages of the same magazine have also published articles and studies dedicated to the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony.
– Homage thematic exhibitions have been organised and opened within the eparchial and parochial centres, with the blessing of the local hierarchs, displaying the most beautiful frescoes, icons, miniatures, embroideries and fabrics, as well as Orthodox gold objects which reflect the teaching of faith concerning the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony (Archdiocese of Bucharest, Archdiocese of Tomis, Archdiocese of Râmnic, Archdiocese of Lower Danube, Diocese of Slobozia and Calaraşi, Diocese of Tulcea, Diocese of Caransebeş, Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Hungary, Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Covasna and Harghita);
– Various cultural manifestations have been organised in the educational institutions (concerts, thematic pilgrimages, contests of essays, etc.) dedicated to the Holy Baptism and Holy matrimony, the winners getting icons and/or books (Archdiocese of Bucharest, Archdiocese of Tomis, Archdiocese of Iaşi, Archdiocese of Suceava and Rădăuţi, Archdiocese of Argeş and Muscel, Archdiocese of Timişoara, Diocese of Sălaj, Diocese of Caransebeş).
From the media point of view, the events dedicated to the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony enjoyed large support and promotion in the church, central and local mass-media:
– The local mass-media (parochial leaflets, eparchial magazines, radio stations of certain eparchies of the Romanian Patriarchate, sites of the Romanian Orthodox eparchies or parishes) and central one (Basilica Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate) publicised the decision of the Holy Synod concerning the proclamation of the 2011 as “Homage Year of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony”, the frame-programme, as well as the events organised in the eparchies of the Romanian Orthodox Church on the theme;
– The Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate informed the public opinion, through press releases, of the manifestations organised within the Romanian Patriarchate on the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony;
– Basilica News Agency of the Romanian Patriarchate published over 500 informative articles (news, communiqués, documents, interviews) dedicated to the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony, 60 of them translated into English. Moreover, the site of the agency created a special section entitled “2011 – Year of the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony” with the icon of the wedding of Cana Galilee as representative image;
– “Lumina” daily newspaper presented the events organised within the eparchies of the Romanian Orthodox Church on the theme of the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony (conferences, symposiums, contests etc.) in over 400 news and 99 articles (documentaries, interviews, articles of opinion) within some special rubrics and pages published in its national edition and 4 regional editions, as well as in the “Lumina de duminică” weekly.
– Trinitas Radio station of the Romanian Patriarchate made and broadcast programmes with large spaces dedicated to the Holy Baptism, Holy Matrimony, as well as to the values of the Christian traditional family: over 500 news and informative materials publicised various manifestations organised within the Romanian Patriarchate on the occasion of the homage year; over 400 editions of the programmes entitled Bible Atlas, Church Fathers – our teachers, Edifying Words, Lights for the Soul, Church and Society, Orthodoxy Easy Explained, Trinitas Dialogues emphasised the Scriptures basis of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony and analysed the two Holy Sacraments or the Christian family; experts in dogmatic, church canons, patrology, Bible and liturgy were invited to Trinitas Dialogues to evoke the importance of the two Holy Sacraments and of the Christian family for our Church
– Trinitas TV station of the Romanian Patriarchate made and broadcast programmes on the Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony, on the values of the Christian traditional family, as well as on the manifestations dedicated to them within the eparchies of the Romanian Patriarchate. So, 500 reportage and articles on the theme have been dedicated to these themes within Trinitas Newsreel. The programmes Bible in the History, The Church Today, Way of the Faith, Man by your side and Words for the Soul debated the themes typical to the family from the catechistic, spiritual and sociological point of view. The television programmes have also illustrated the issues of the Romanian Diaspora related to the family life, especially to the celebration of the Matrimony or Baptism, as well as to the education of the children in an unfavourable context, deprived of the support of the enlarged family and of the parish from home. Moreover, the television curriculum also includes the “Christian Family” programme, with three editions per week.
This concise presentation easy renders the idea that the decision of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church to proclaim the year 2011 as Homage Year of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony had a large echo with the clergy, monks and faithful, implementing it in many actions and programmes dedicated exclusively to the two Holy Sacraments, which contributed to the deepening of the teaching of faith concerning the Sacraments of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony, as well as of the importance of these two Sacraments in the life of the faithful.
Today’s solemn working session of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church crowns the entire activity of the hierarchs, clergy, teaching staff, monks and other employees of the Church or of the institutions of theological education and research designed to deepen the importance and topicality of the teaching of faith concerning the Sacraments of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy matrimony, and the importance of these Sacraments in the life of the faithful as well.
All the employees of the church central institutions express their thanks to His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, at whose initiative the year 2011 was declared Homage Year of the Holy Baptism and of the Holy Matrimony, as well as to all the members of the Holy Synod who made efforts to implement it in all the eparchies of the Romanian Patriarchate.
† Ciprian Campineanul
Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch
Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church
