Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities at the Patriarchal Cathedral
On 24 January 2012, on the occasion of the anniversary of 153 years since the Union of the Romanian Principalities (1859), that took place in the Patriarchate Hill, in a building of the Church situated near the Metropolitan Cathedral (Patriarchal Cathedral at present), after the Divine Liturgy, at 11.00 o’clock, a Te Deum was celebrated as thanksgiving to God for the accomplishment of this great event in the history of the Romanian people to whose implementation the Romanian Orthodox Church had a significant contribution.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, assisted by a group of priests and deacons.
To end with, while talking about the Union of the Romanian Principalities in 1859, His Beatitude emphasised the fact that the historical meeting in which colonel Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected prince of Wallachia was held in the Metropolitan Hill, in a building situated close to the Patriarchal Cathedral: “This building was used as Chamber of the Deputies so that the Metropolitan of Wallachia chaired the historical meeting in the Metropolitan Hill when colonel Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected Prince of Wallachia, who had been elected ruler of Moldovia on 5 January. Here, in the well-known Metropolitan Hill, landmark of history, faith and culture, place of the blessings that bring joy to the people, the Union took place 153 ago, blessed and sustained by the prayers of the Church, moment that we commemorate with respect and gratitude”.
His Beatitude has also offered all those present in the Patriarchal Cathedral a post card of the Patriarchate Palace printed at the Printing House of the Bible and Orthodox Mission printed showing the Union of the Principalities (1859) – a copy of the picture from Paris, by C. Ioan Vasilescu, at the Metropolitanate seat, Bucharest, 1908.
