Celebration Day of the Romanian Saints’ Monastery

On 17 June 2012, the second Sunday after the Pentecost, also named the Romanian Saints’ Sunday, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Romanian Saints Monastery of Bucharest, assisted by a group of priests and deacons.

After reading the evangelical pericope, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a sermon for the hundreds of faithful present, in which he presented the Romanian saints ever since the beginning of Christianity.

“The Sunday of the Romanian Saints was instituted by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church on 20 June 1992, according to the example of the All Saints’ Sunday. The first Sunday after the Descent of the Holy Spirit or after the Pentecost is the All Saints’ Sunday, and the second Sunday is the Romanian Saints’ Sunday. This feast is a special opportunity for us to remember all the Romanian Saints in their communion, as they are in front of the Most Holy Trinity. The Romanian Saints have been in the territory of our country ever since the beginning of Christianity especially as martyrs who suffered in today’s territory of our country. These ones are named forerunners or Dacian – Romans. They confessed the faith in Jesus Chris in times of persecution, in times when the Christian faith was considered a danger for the pagan Roman Empire. This is why, several Roman pagan emperors considered Christianity a new dangerous religion, because the Christians did not worship the idols or the statues of the emperor, but confessed a God in Heaven and rejected other gods but for the true God, the Creator of the Heaven and earth”.

The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church explained why this Sunday is dedicated to the Romanians’ Saints.

“All the year of our calendar is consecrated by the crowd of the saints of the Universal Church, as well as by that of the Romanian Saints. The first canonisation made by the Synod of our Church was in 1950, and the proclamation in 1955, during the communist epoch, as a sign of hope that only the help of the saints can strengthen us to defeat an atheist regime. If the first stage of the saints’ canonisation by our synod was done at the beginning of the communist regime, the second one was done at the end of the communist rule, namely in 1992. Several saints were canonised at the time and it was decided that the Sunday after All Saints’ Sunday should be named the Romanian Saints’ Sunday. Today, this celebration of the Romanian Saints’ Sunday is spread in several parts of our country, as well as in Diaspora. We fell honoured and helped through these Romanian saints. We are honoured because they pray for us in Heaven, and helped because they give us the example of growing in faith, of confessing the faith not only in good times, but also in hard times. We have lots of models to follow in our nation. We think of the crowd of saints martyrs, of the pious ones, of the crowd of the faithful men and women who are saints in Heaven although they are not mentioned in the calendar. This is why this Sunday is the Sunday of the Romanian saints known or unknown, acknowledged by the Church and listed in the calendar, not known yet by the people, but only by God”.

At the same time, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel showed that all the baptised Christians are called to holiness.

“The Sunday of the Romanian Saints is the joy of the Romanian people who have the apostolic faith received from Saint Andrew the Apostle who made this faith fruitful throughout the centuries. The Romanian Saints’ Sunday is the Sunday of the dignity in holiness of the Romanian people. The Romanian Saints’ Sunday is the Sunday of the Cross and Resurrection of the Romanian people. The Romanian Saints’ Sunday is a feast both heavenly and earthly. It is a heavenly feast because the Romanian saints are praying in Heaven for us, and an earthly one because it is celebrated on the earth where they lived, prayed and were buried. This is why a special relationship is made with the Heaven through the Romanian saints buried in the Romanian land. May God help us feel this beautiful relationship of holiness of the Romanian saints among them and theirs with Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Trinity and follow their example as enlighteners of the Romanian people! Today’s Gospel shows us that Jesus Christ, our Saviour, called the disciples to mission, service, to preaching the Gospel and confessing Him. Christ, our Lord, calls us all to holiness even if some of us are servants of the altar and some others simple faithful, even if some of us are theologians and others not, but all the Christians baptised are called to holiness. Any faithful man or woman who answers the call to holiness through the confession of the right faith, through repentance, the Holy Sacraments, through much prayer and effort can become a saint. Every faithful man or woman has the call to holiness already given through the light of the Holy Baptist. And this seed of holiness received at Baptism should be cultivated all the lifetime”.

The construction of the church monastery dedicated to the All Saints Sunday began in 2003 at the initiative and by care of the worthy remembering Patriarch Teoctist and it was finished in the autumn of 2006, including a block of cells for the monks. On the occasion of its consecration, on 29 October 2006, the new church was endowed with particles of the holy relics of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Saint Great Martyr George and of Saints Dionisie and Ambrosios, Bishops of Mediolan.

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