His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel Celebrated The Divine Liturgy At The Patriarchal Cathedral
On 26 September 2010, the 17th Sunday after the Pentecost, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral in the capital city of the country, assisted by a group of priests and deacons. This Sunday, the Evangelical pericope presenting the wonderful fishing was read in all churches.
On this occasion, His Beatitude presented in his sermon the symbolism of the evangelical pericope read during the Divine Liturgy: “Today’s Gospel teaches us that first we must rely on God’s help and then on our human ability. As long as he relied only on his physical force and skill to catch fish, Saint Peter the Apostle, and those together with him, caught nothing. After working all night they suddenly felt tiredness and humbleness. They saw the failure of their efforts. So, this Gospel is related to the mystery of the Church, to that of the Shepherd and to the mystery of the Christian life”, informs us Trinitas Radio station.
His Beatitude has also emphasised the teachings of the evangelical pericope concerning the Church: “This Gospel is full of teaching that helps us to better understand the Mystery of the Church, the Mystery of the Shepherd in the Church and the meaning of the Christian life. First of all, the ship in which Jesus Christ, our Lord, preaches the crowds of people is a foreshadowing of the Church where Christ, our Lord, is, and from which His Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, is preached.
Following the mysterious relationship between Christ and the ship, His Beatitude has also showed that the Church decided, in the “Apostolic Constitutions”, that the places of worship should be ship shaped: ‘The Ship was given the cross shape, and the big belfry of the church looks like a mast on which there is the flag of faith, the Holy Cross, the firm faith that does not float in the wind, but tears the winds and passes through the times. This ship shaped image of the church is taken over from the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, referring both to the Ark of Noah by which the faithful people were saved during the great flood and to the ship of the Saviour by which He, together with His disciples, sailed by sea. The sea often symbolises our life, sometimes calm, sometimes roughed by the wind of temptations, trials, and troubles. But whenever we ask for the help of Christ, the One from the Church and from heaven, He calms down the storm on the sea, just as the Gospels show and help us to get rid of troubles.’
To end with the Divine Liturgy, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church evoked the personality of Saint Prince Neagoe Basarab celebrated today, 26 September, in the Romanian Orthodox Church. His Beatitude emphasised the fact that this saint prince supported the Church, and founded and restored many churches both in the country and abroad. He helped the entire Christian Orient under Ottoman rule at the beginning of the 16th century.
The Patriarch of Romania also spoke about the canonical visits paid in September to various parts of the country.
