Feast of Saint Antonie the Great at the Old Court
On 17 January, every year, the Princely Church – Patriarchal Chapel – Saint Anton – Old Court of Bucharest celebrates its spiritual protector, Saint Antonie the Great, whose miracle worker icon is in this holy place of worship. This year the spiritual joy of the feast was increased by the presence of the Patriarch of Romania in the middle of the faithful of this parish. On the occasion of the second dedication day of the oldest church of Bucharest, hundreds of faithful attended the Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Grace Varlaam Ploieşteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, assisted by a group of priests and deacons.
To end with the Divine Liturgy, the Patriarch of Romania delivered a sermon in which he eulogized the personality of the monks’ father, Saint Pious Antonie the Great: “Today, our Church celebrates Saint Pious Antonie the Great, considered the father of monasticism both in the Eastern and in the Western Church. Saint Antonie the Great is known as a diligent and very wise father. He was born to a family of rich people, not only materially, but also spiritually, around 250 or 251, in Coma village, close to Herakleopolis city in Upper Egypt.
Growing Children In Time Of Poverty Is Martyrdom, Devotion And Sacrifice
“This is the exchange that Jesus, our Saviour, proposes to the young rich man. Yet, Saint Antonie asked: “Lord, what do you want me to do to be better and if it is somebody better than me, I would like to meet him”. God told him that there was a shoemaker with a family who was better than he, who prayed three times a day and shared his earnings with the poor people. So, a part for the family, and a part for the poor. This one surpassed him. How was that, surpassed? Well, he surpassed him in lowliness, because the shoemaker never wondered if there was anybody better than he, which means that you can be saint not only in the desert, but also at home. If you do your Christian duty it is because growing children in time of poverty is martyrdom, devotion, sacrifice. So, man can either marry and have a family and crucifies his selfishness and does no longer live only for himself, but with the family and for the family and those around, for the poor, for those poorer than he, or become a monk and does not live selfishly only for himself, but for the spiritual family which is the monastery and the pilgrims or faithful who come to the monastery. This is why the Orthodox Church although appreciates monasticism a lot, does not despise marriage either. Had we not had good Christian families we would not have had young men to come to the monastery either. Thus, the Christian family contributed to the Christian education of Saint Antonie, so that he formed a bigger, spiritual family, the monastic family. So, one cannot live selfishly, outside a family, either conjugal or monastic. This is why the Holy Scriptures wrote: “Woe to the lonely one!”, namely not the lonely one because he is lonely, but to the one who thinks only of himself. The monk even if is alone in the desert, he prays God and for the good health and salvation of the entire world, so that he is not alone. He is at a certain geographic distance, but he is not alone. He is in spiritual communion with God, with the angels and all the saints and the people who pray. This is why the monks were named praying persons for the people”, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel also explained.
Humble Wisdom Comes From Prayer, From The Wisdom Of Christ
His Beatitude has also emphasised the fact that “Saint Antonie is the product of a Christian family which created, in its turn, a big spiritual family spread throughout the centuries. Why a man who ran away from the world, who was living among graves and then retired into the mountains, was looked for by so many people? How was it possible that the one who avoided the world was looked for by so many people after 35 years of hard living? Namely the people were coming to the desert because he was united with God through effort, fasting, prayer; they were not looking for an ordinary man, but for a God bearer man. This is why the pious saints who always pray in their mind are named in the prayers of the Orthodox Church “Pious Saints bearers of God, our Fathers”. Thus, the people came to ask for some wise advice because he had become bearer of God, but his wisdom was not coming from books, but from God who shared it to him through prayer. Therefore, man can be cultivated, wise to a certain extent from books, but the deepest wisdom, the humble wisdom comes from the prayer, from the wisdom of Christ Who is named the Word and wisdom of God in the Holy Scriptures”.
Saint Antonie The Great – Model Of The Spiritual Father Multiplied In A Crowd Of Saint Monks And Saint Parish Priests
“In conclusion, Saint Pious Antonie the Great set up inner peace in his being, in his mind and body, in their relationship with God. Because he filled himself of peace, wisdom and light, he could give spiritual peace, light and wisdom to those who came to him. So, in Saint Antonie the Great we have the model of the spiritual father multiplied later on in a crowd of saint monks, as well as in parish priests. In the world, most of the people are not saved in monasteries, but in parishes. They are born, baptised in the Church, wedded, and buried by the Church. So, Christ, the Lord, calls some of them to be monks, and some other ones to be spiritual laic fathers. This is why the Orthodox Church, especially the Romanian Orthodox Church has never opposed the parish to the monastery. They are two missionary hands of God by which He works in the world. The parishes often support the monasteries from a material point of view, while the monasteries with rich spiritual life support the parishes. May God help us love His saints and learn from them how they became bearers of grace and enlighteners of the light!”, said the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the end.
To end with, the Patriarch of Romania offered several liturgical and missionary books to the place of worship and congratulated the servant priests for their entire activity. Parish priest Gheorghe Zaharia offered, in his turn, His Beatitude, an icon of Saint Antonie the Great. The faithful present received small icons of the saint patron of the church of the Old Court from His Beatitude.
Saint Antonie the Great has become the protector of the church of the Old Court after the big fire of 23 March 1847, when Saint Anton church close to the Old Court was burned down. The church has a parish museum too where there is an icon of the Holy Trinity at Mamvri Oak Tree dating as far back as 1715, made in the time of the ruling prince Ştefan Cantacuzino, which is part of the old church altar screen. In the church museum there is also a blessed bread cup offered by Saint Constantin Brâncoveanu, as well as other objects dating from the end of the 18th century and from the 19th century too.
