On Sunday, July 4th, 2021, the Sunday of All Romanian and American Saints and the Independence Day of the United States of America, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae and the clergy of Ss. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Chicago celebrated the Divine Liturgy and the Te Deum service. Prayers of thanksgiving were addressed to God for all the benefits bestowed on the American nation, asking Him for His protection and blessing.

At the time of the homily, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae talked about the 152 Romanian saints canonized starting from 1950 until 2018, remembering different groups of them. Honored are the saints who preached the faith in the Resurrection of the Lord on the shore of the Black Sea, beginning with the Holy Apostle Andrew and his disciples, then the holy confessors of the Christian faith, even at the price of their lives, as are the four holy martyrs of Niculițel, Epictetus and Astion, Aemilian of Durostorum, Romulus the priest. We then venerate the holy hierarchs, organizers of ecclesiastical life on the Daco-Roman land, as are Bretanion and Theotimus of Tomis, or Hyacinthus, the Metropolitan of Wallachia.

Among the Romanian saints commemorated on this Sunday we also count the venerable fathers and mothers who, following the way of the Lord, gained angelic countenances, as John Cassian and Herman of Dobruja, then Saint Dimitrios the New of Basarabi, Paraskeva of Jassy, Nicodemus of Tismana, Theodora of Sihla, Daniil the Hermit, and later on, Paisius Velichkovsky, Basil of Poiana Mărului, George of Cernica, Antipas of Calopodești, Herodion of Lainici, and John Jacob the Chozebite, together with many other saints, known or unknown. We then venerate the holy confessors of the right Christian belief, beginning with those of Transylvania: Ilie Iorest and Savvas Brancovich, Ioan of Galeș, Moise Măcinic, Oprea Nicolae, Sophronius of Cioara and Bessarion Sarai. Among the confessors we also remember the holy martyr Constantine Brâncoveanu together with his four sons, alongside all the new Christian confessors of the camps and dungeons from the time of the Communist regime.

To this long list of Romanian saints, we add the holy hierarchs who lived the Orthodox faith and defended it: Anthim the Iberian, Gregory the Teacher, Callinicus of Cernica, Dosoftei and Varlaam of Moldavia, Joseph the Merciful and Dionysius of Cetatea Albă. And let us not forget the pious Voivodes who have erected churches: the Holy Voivodes Stephen the Great and Neagoe Basarab.

His Eminence Nicolae then talked about the American saints, meaning the missionaries of the Orthodox faith on American soil, such as Saints Herman of Alaska and Peter the Aleut, the holy hierarchs organizers of ecclesiastical life, like Juvenaly and Innocent of Alaska, Tikhon, apostle of America, Raphael of Brooklyn, Nikolaj Velimirović, John Maximovitch, Mardarije of Chicago and Sebastian of San Francisco.

Speaking about the US Independence Day, His Eminence Nicolae recalled the Orthodox ordinance to pray for the leaders of the country, asking God to grant them wisdom towards the protection and the peaceful guidance of the people.

May God protect and bless America!