In the presence of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian, V. Rev. Father Daniel Ene, the spiritual guide of the organization and of other priests from our Metropolia, on May 13-15, 2022, the AROLA Congress took place. The conference was held in two locations: The Protection of the Mother of God Monastery in Allegan, MI (USA) and the Elevation of the Holy Cross and St. Ephrem the New Monastery in Mono, ON (Canada). Due to existing travel restrictions, Zoom participation was also offered in Canada. 36 delegates from the parishes of our jurisdiction participated (23 from Canada and 13 from the USA).
The joy of the reunion was great because we felt the absence of in-person meetings over the last four years. On Friday evening, the delegates from the USA participated in the Akathist of the Protection of the Mother of God, which is also the patronal feast of the Monastery that hosted us. V. Rev. Father Daniel Ene enabled us to experience much joy by bringing in our midst a part of the relics of Saint Anna, the patron of our organization. Delegates from Canada attended St. Parascheva’s Akathist and had the great blessing of having in their midst throughout the Congress the Vestment of St. Parascheva of Jassy.
In a festive atmosphere, with most of the participants wearing Romanian traditional costumes, the Congress continued Saturday morning with the Holy and Divine Liturgy followed by the memorial service for the AROLA members who reposed in the Lord.
The conference “Metacognition - the chance of a fulfilled life as a woman” was organized by the AROLA Congress, being held by Prof. Dr. Cristina Benga from Munich. The presentation made by Psa. Benga, PhD in Education Sciences, with an experience of over 25 years of collaboration with children and adolescents, being very interesting and leading to a lot of questions from over 100 participants. One of the main ideas of the conference was that metaknowledge helps to clarify the steps to learn good habits in terms of thoughts, opinions, attitudes, attention, and creativity, and can be learned and practiced by anyone, at any age. Psa. Cristina Benga also presented us with strategies or methods of metacognition for a fulfilled life, as well as the advantages of practicing metacognition.
After lunch, HE Metropolitan Nicolae blessed the meeting and offered a few words of encouragement to all the present delegates, urging them to lead a life as close to the church as possible, so that together they can bring much spiritual benefit to the parishes to which they belong. Furthermore, HG Bishop Ioan Casian wished for us to be like the myrrh-bearing women, as to help the pastoral work of the priests.
This was followed by the presentation of the 2020-2022 activity report, as well as the presentation and approval of the financial and budget reports for the USA and Canada. During the presentation of this information, the ladies from the Executive Committee explained the influence that AROLA had on them, emphasizing the family atmosphere in which the meetings take place and expressing their gratitude for having the opportunity to practice love of neighbor through AROLA projects.
The next item on the agenda was the election of the new Executive Committee:
- President: Elena Alina Stan (Protection of the Mother of God, Houston, TX)
- Vice President: Daniela Stroescu (Saint Dumitru, Winnipeg, MB)
- Secretary: Cristina Kraițer (Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, PA)
- US Treasurer: Adriana Obreja (Ss. Constantine and Helen Cathedral, Chicago, IL)
- Canada Treasurer: Geta Slavei (All Saints, Toronto, ON)
- Public Relations: Mirela Manga (Holy Trinity, Troy, MI)
- Communication Advisors:
- Eastern USA Deanery– Ioana Coman (Holy Three Hierarchs, Syracuse, NY)
- Central USA Deanery – Cornelia Oprea Pîrvulescu (Protection of the Mother of God, Houston, TX)
- Western USA Deanery – Crina Ghimpu (Saints Joachim and Anna, Seattle, WA)
- Eastern Canada Deanery – Oana Grosuliac (Saint John the Baptist Cathedral, Montreal, QC)
- Central Canada Deanery – Nicoleta Ştefan (Saint Dumitru, Richmond Hill, ON)
- Western Canada Deanery – Psa. Elena Moldovan (Holy Trinity, Calgary, AB)
The last item on the agenda was the discussion and voting on the proposed amendments to the AROLA statute.
At the end of the proceedings of the Congress, V. Rev. Father Daniel Ene thanked the ladies who were part of the Executive Committee 2020-2022 and urged the new Committee to ask God for patience and strength in order to fulfill their mission.
A special moment followed when His Eminence Nicolae offered the American Metropolitan Cross to Preoteasa Claudia Aileni, in appreciation and gratitude for the love, work and sacrifice offered in the service of the AROLA Association in times of peace and in times of crisis, as President of the Association. Also, Metropolitan Nicolae handed over to Preoteasa Flavia Ene the Order of Cross of Justinian the Archbishop, offered by His Grace Iustin, Bishop of Maramureş and Sătmar, as a sign of high esteem and appreciation for her work in the service of AROLA.
On Saturday evening, after the Vespers service, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae addressed us with a new exhortation: to read the Holy Scripture and to share it with those around us.
On Sunday morning, after the Matins and the Hierarchical Liturgy, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae exegeted the Sunday Gospel:
The Church Fathers see in the situation of this man that had been sick for f 38 years humanity itself which, after Adam’s sin, found itself sick, emaciated, estranged from God, and waiting for salvation. The whole history of mankind from Adam to Christ is the history of man’s attempt to regain the God he lost. The entire history, from Adam to Christ, is a story of man’s failure to find God. If man failed to find God by his own strength, God himself came. God Himself descended to earth, God Himself took the human body to heal sick human nature, to reconcile man with God, to then pass him by death, and to overcome even death ...
The Savior's warning, “Take heed that ye sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.” What could be worse for this 38-year-old patient? Hadn’t he suffered enough? Even worse than the bodily suffering was the spiritual suffering or even spiritual death, that is, distancing from God. And now we understand that God, who came down and healed this man, healed him not only of his bodily disease, but also of his spiritual illness. In the same way, we must seek healing from physical and spiritual illness.
It was a wonderful Congress in which we rejoiced at being with our Hierarchs and Fathers and for all the grace that we felt at every step. We would like to thank our Hierarchs, HE Metropolitan Nicolae and HG Bishop Ioan Casian, for all the support and trust given during this period, V. Rev. Father Daniel Ene, our guide, for the love and patience with which he guides us, Prof. Dr. Cristina Benga for the information shared and the advice given with so much love, V. Rev. Hieromonk Daniel of the Protection of the Mother of God Allegan Monastery, MI and V. Rev. Hieromonk Polycarp of the Elevation of the Holy Cross and St. Ephrem the New Monastery in Mono, ON for the accommodations and hospitality with which they received us, to the parish priests for the support that they offer us, and last but not least to all the ladies of our Metropolia. Dear sisters, without you, we could not have accomplished anything!
AROLA Committee
