Solemn Commemoration of the Heroes of the Nation at the Patriarchal Cathedral

Romanian Orthodox Basicilia Press Center – June 2016 

After the Divine Liturgy celebrated today, 9 June 2016, at the Patriarchal Cathedral, His Grace Macarie, Romanian Orthodox Bishop celebrated a solemn commemoration service for the heroes of the nation, in the presence of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.

After the solemn service the Patriarch of Romania explained the reasons why the Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation, the National Cathedral is mainly dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord.

The feast of the Ascension of the Lord and the Day of the Heroes will be the main dedication day of the Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation or National Cathedral of which construction is both a practical must and a national spiritual symbol, having been dedicated from the very beginning to those who sacrificed themselves throughout our history for defending the Christian Orthodox faith, freedom, unity and dignity of the Romanian people.

Even the name of Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation means “Cathedral of the liberation or salvation of the Romanian nation from under the foreign dominations”. “It is not the salvation at the end of time, but the liberation or salvation from under foreign occupations in the course of time.

The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church has also spoken about the duty to honour our heroes and defend the integrity of the Romanian spirit.

The cult of the heroes, just like the cult of the dead, and especially the cult of the heroes, generated a culture of esteem, of the sacrificial love which is stronger than death. The large number of the lists of names and commemoration services for the heroes of the nation constituted an element of cultivation of the conscience of our national unity and continuity from generation to generation. It is a very significant fact that the lists of the names made the basis of the chronicles. The chronicles mentioning the sacrifice of the Romanian people are nicely summed up in the text carved on the Arch of Triumph of Bucharest. The graves of the Romanian heroes from the country and abroad ought not to be without burning candles and flowers at this feast for commemorating the heroes of all times and places. Thus, we express our gratitude and love through the commemorating prayers stronger than death, namely the permanent spiritual relationship with the heroes who gave their lives in the past so that we should exist today. The real value of our freedom as a result of their sacrifice is measured with the multitude of our good deeds done freely and responsibly in order to spiritually grow in merciful love, kindness and generosity. Besides the territorial integrity for which lots of heroes sacrificed themselves throughout the history, the spiritual integrity of the Romanian spirit must be also defended as it spiritually resisted during the barbarian invasions and foreign domination, keeping its faith, Christian living and unity.

The solemn commemoration of the heroes of the Romanian nation at the feast of the Ascension of the Lord was decided by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1920. This decision was confirmed through two other more recent synodal decisions, in 1999 and 2001, by which this day was proclaimed as national church feast.

Bill 379/2003 on the regime of the graves and war commemorative monuments proclaimed the 40^th day after the Holy Easter, the feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, our Lord – the Day of the Heroes, as National Feast of the Romanian people.

We also mention that the Romanian heroes, soldiers, and fighters of all times and places, who sacrificed themselves in battlefields, forced labour camps and prisons for defending their homeland and ancient faith, for the unity of the nation, freedom and dignity of the Romanian people are remembered at every Divine Liturgy.

Source: