The faithful of the Protection of the Mother of God Mission of Houston, Texas, celebrated the Sunday of all Saints together with their spiritual Father, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae. The visit of His Eminence is part of the series of pastoral and missionary trips which the Hierarch annually undertakes in his Diocese. At arrival, the Church which was adorned for the feast, together with its faithful, received His Eminence as it is proper and according to tradition. To start, His Eminence met with the members of the parish Council, who presented a succinct report of past activity, as well as the Mission’s plans for the future.
At evening hour and at the appropriate moment, His Eminence celebrated the service of Vespers and Litya. At the end of the service, His Eminence held a speech full of teaching to the faithful concerning the spiritual significance of the Sunday of All Saints. At the basis of the teachings of the Hierarch was the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews of the Holy Apostle Paul. The faith of the prophets and of all the righteous of the Old Testament, who have hoped in the fulfillment of God’s promise, meaning the coming into the world of the Messiah, and of which they did not partake, is an assurance and an example for us, who are the witnesses of the fulfillment and consummation of this work of salvation. No trials of their own times could stop or weaken them in their faith. For this reason, God worked through them in a wonderful manner. The connection through faith in God, with the saints of all times and of all places, makes us, the ones of today, accountable with keeping and transmitting it to future generations. The evening ended with a dinner prepared by the ladies of our parish.
The second day, on Sunday morning, His Eminence was received once again by the faithful of our Mission, gathered in order to participate at the Divine Liturgy. After the service of Matins, there was a service for the blessing of the water and the reading of the high priestly prayer for the blessing of the faithful. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Nicolae together with the parish Priest Julian Aniței.
At the end of the service, the Metropolitan spoke to the faithful about the multitude of known and unknown saints, from all times and from all places, which the Savior Christ, through the Church, gathers and honors as it is meet. In a place of honor is Mother of God, followed by the prophets of the Old Testament, the Holy Apostles, the great teachers of the world and hierarchs, the martyrs, the venerable and God-bearing fathers and mothers, the wonder-working and unmercenary doctors and all the Holy Fathers. This image is beautifully rendered liturgically when the priest celebrates the proskomedia. All this order can be found on the diskos, in the middle being the Lamb of God, Christ, the eternal High Priest. Even though the Christian world enjoyed freedom, there have been numerous historical periods when Christians endured harsh persecutions. There still exist many people whose freedom to believe in the Living God is forbidden, and many times, these ones pay with their lives for the courage to confess. Orthodox Christians are called in season and out of season to confess through their lives the faith in Christ, the Son of God, and not to fall prey to libertine and progressist tendencies.
At the end, His Eminence presented and offered to the parish priest and to the believers the new Antimension on which the unbloody sacrifice of Christ, our Savior, is being celebrated. The Antimension is the link of canonical communion of the hierarch with the priest and his faithful. It contains a part of the relics of a holy martyr. Father Julian Aniței thanked His Eminence for the visit and invited him to come back whenever he will have the opportunity. After the blessing of the gathering of the believers followed a brotherly agape, offered once again by the ladies of our parish. In the time that remained until the departure to the airport of His Eminence, the faithful had the chance to talk to the Hierarch.
Parish Priest Julian Aniței
