Patriarch Daniel: Giving Birth to Children Is Always a Gift of God
Andrei Pau – Basilica News Agency – September 2016
The fact that Virgin Mary is born to very pious and prayerful parents, Ioachim and Ana, at a rather old age, shows us that any birth of children is a blessing of God, the Patriarch of Romania said today.
Thursday, 8 September 2016, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Birth of the Mother of God. The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church underlined in the sermon delivered in the historical chapel of the Patriarchal Cathedral the fact that today’s feast transmits us the following truth: giving birth to children is always a gift of God.
Sometimes God does not let some people have children right away in the natural way in order to show that nature, if fruitful, it is not all by itself through the blind law of nature, but through the blessing of God. Thus, when human nature is healthy and fruitful it is because the grace of God is working in its fruit. When the husband and wife want to have children but they cannot have them they better understand that the birth of children is a gift of God, not an ordinary natural gift which comes automatically. Giving birth to children is always a gift of God no matter if the age is young or advanced. Only when we receive this gift right away we realize how great its value is. Just like good health, only when we do no longer have it we can better understand how precious it is, His Beatitude explained.
The Patriarch of Romania congratulated all the pupils and professors on the occasion of the beginning of the new school year. His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel also prays God to bless all children, as well as their parents and professors.
Because the beginning of the new school year is coming near, we congratulate all the professors, men and women, who love children and young people as their own and form them intellectually and spiritually. We congratulate especially the religion teachers who contribute a lot to the spiritual formation of the children and of the young people. This is the blessing or joy that the Feast of the Birth of the Mother of God brings us. It is a blessing for all children, all families, and for all people who love children and help them according to their abilities. This is why we pray Jesus Christ, our Saviour, to bless all families and all children through the intercession of His Mother, the Birth Giver to God and Always Virgin Mary. We pray for all those who understand how great the gift to have children is, children grown up in faith, with fear of God and with love for parents, professors, educators, and for all those who help them, who advise them and cultivate in them the dignity of the man created in the image of God, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church also underlined.
In the end, Patriarch Daniel congratulated all those of the name of Maria, Marian and of other names derived from it.
On the occasion of this feast of the Birth of the Mother of God we congratulate all mothers and fathers who have children and all those who although do not have their own biological children show fatherly love for all the poor, lonely children, or abandoned in their own houses of hospitals. It is very important to congratulate on this day all the women of the name of Maria, as well as the men named Marian or of other names referring to the Mother of God. We wish you all good health and salvation, peace and joy and much help of God in their lives, for their salvation and for the joy of the Church of Christ, His Beatitude concluded.
About 2,4 million Romanians celebrate their name day today.
Photo: Ziarul Lumina
