On Saturday, February 27 and Sunday, February 28, 2021, His Eminence Archbishop and Metropolitan Nicholas paid a pastoral visit to Texas.
On Saturday, February 27, His Eminence Nicolae celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Nativity of the Mother of God parish of Austin surrounded by a group of priests: Fr. Dumitru Ilieș, parish priest, Fr. Julian Anitei from the Protection of the Mother of God parish of Houston, Fr. Alessandro Margheritino, secretary of the OCA Metropolia, Fr. Valentin Ilieș from the parish of St. John Cassian in San Antonio and Deacon Gabriel Ilieș from the host parish. Several members of the Tronos choir of the Romanian Patriarchate, conducted by Archdeacon Mihail Bucă, offered the answers at the Divine Liturgy to the joy of the faithful.
In his sermon, the hierarch spoke about the special period of the church year that we started the previous Sunday:
With the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee we begin our 10-week ascent to the feast of the Lord's Resurrection. And there can be no better beginning than of a humble thought and prayer to God. We cannot present ourselves to God anyway. Those of us who want to do it must know that God seeks us all, but does not impose himself on anyone, God wants everyone to return, but does not force anyone to take their steps towards Him, God descends into the souls of all if they are ready to receive Him. The purpose of the Triodion is that of our awakening to reality, that spiritual reality which cannot be easily recognized in the tumult of the present times and which reveals us before the Heavenly Father. Starting from this reality, we can make every good beginning of preparation, so that on the Day of Resurrection may be ready to receive light from the light of the Savior.
On Saturday evening, His Eminence Nicolae together with a group of priests officiated the Vespers service with Lithia in honor of St. John Cassian, the patron saint of the San Antonio parish. In his sermon, Metropolitan Nicolae reminded that the year 2021 is dedicated by the Romanian Patriarchate to the Pastoral Care of Romanians outside Romania, an occasion to honor the Orthodox protectors and missionaries. Among them is St. John Cassian, together with St. Dionysius Exiguus and St. John Jacob from Neamț, like those who fulfilled a mission outside Romania. Among the missionaries we also count St. Hierarch Raphael of Brooklyn, commemorated on February 27, the first ordained Orthodox bishop on American soil, but also the saints dear to the American Orthodox, Nicolae Velimirovici and Ioan Maximovici.
The next day, Sunday, February 28, the 2nd Sunday of the Triodion, the feast of the parish continued with the service of the Blessing of the water to bless the renovation works of the church and the Divine Liturgy performed by His Eminence Nicolae and the group of priests, the answers being given by the Archdeacon Mihail Bucă and his companions from Tronos.
In his sermon, the hierarch interpreted the Gospel of the day, that of the Prodigal Son:
Each of us is in the situation of the Prodigal Son. Each of us leaves Heavenly Father and sets out in search of an ephemeral accomplishment, devoid of His love and guidance. Each of us repeats the mistake of the first man and considers ourselves mature and master of our own destiny. We all want to know life and experience its richness, forgetting that true life is nothing but communion with God. And by doing so, we add nothing to our being, we gain neither peace, nor joy, nor happiness, but only their illusions. In order to acquire the true ones, we must follow the example of the Son in the parable and turn to the Father. His joy will be great and sincere, and this joy will be transmitted to us and restored to us in the position of sons, by those who are heirs with Him, not only of earthly peace, joys and happiness, but of eternal heavenly ones.
Then he spoke about the life and mission of St. John Cassian, founder of Western monasticism by transposing the experience of the Fathers of the Christian East into the specifics of Christianity in Gaul at the beginning of the 5th century.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the parish priest Valentin Ilieș thanked the hierarch, the priests and the members of the Tronos group for participating at the parish feast. Also, many thanks were brought to the benefactors who contributed to the restoration work, expressing the hope that the church will soon be able to be consecrated. The priest and the Romanian Orthodox believers of San Antonio give glory to God for this blessed day!
Father Valentin Ilieș