Carols Concert at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest
Tuesday night, 15 December 2015, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church attended the traditional carols concert performed by the students of Patriarch Justinian Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest. His Grace Varlaam Ploieşteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, has also attended the concert together with the members of the teaching staff, distinguished guests and many young people fond of the Romanian traditional carols.
The concert was held in Dumitru Staniloae Amphitheatre of the educational institution. The young Orthodox theologians prepared a programme of carols supervised by the religious music teachers. The carols concert also included religious poems recited by actor Tomi Cristian, graduate of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology and actor at the National Theatre of Bucharest.
The Patriarch of Romania delivered a speech in which he urged those present to be firm in confessing their faith.
“We appreciate these beautiful poems and chants which I think were presented tonight in premiere. Beyond its melancholic melody, this old music is very restful, heart moving and restful. The carols have both a historical and a prophetic aspect, having been a path to the heavenly eternal joy. We are very glad when we see tradition continued. During the communist time, carols concerts had greater value because they were rare and it was very difficult to find a place to listen them. However, it was the time of confessing faith in quite a real musical form. Therefore, this continuity is very nice, no matter if we are persecuted or free. We must be constant in confessing our faith and love for Christ, Church and nation, for the Christian Orthodox people”, His Beatitude said.
The concert programme also included chants by composers Gheorghe Cucu, Nicolae Lungu, Vasile Popovici, and I.D. Chirescu.
