The feast of Holy Apostle Andrew the Apostle and Holy Hierarch Andrei Șaguna, on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, was an occasion of great joy for the clergy and faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral of Ss. Constantine and Helen in Chicago. Serving along with His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae and the clergy of the Cathedral were the two priest members of the Men’s Choir of Finteusu Mare, Maramureș, Fr. Ionuț Lupșe and Fr. Ionuț Sadoveanu.

At the time of the sermon, HE Nicolae spoke a word about the mission of St. Andrew the Apostle, the apostle and protector of the Romanian people, and about the Holy Hierarch Andrei, who re-founded the Orthodox Metropolia of Transylvania in 1864 and fulfilled a beautiful educational activity, on different levels, for the Transylvanian Orthodox Romanians.

On Wednesday evening, the clergy and the faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral of Ss. Constantine and Helen in Chicago prayed together, at the Te Deum service, on Romania's National Day. His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae said prayers of thanksgiving to God for all the gifts and blessings bestowed on the sons of the Romanian people from all over the world, as well as for the sacrifice of those who celebrated the Great Union on December 1, 1918.

In his speech, HE Metropolitan Nicolae mentioned the stages of this process: on March 27, 1918, in Chișinău, theNational Council decided with a majority of votes the Union of Bessarabia with Romania. On November 28, 1918, in the Synodal Hall of the Metropolitan Palace of Cernăuți, the proceedings of the General Congress of Bucovina took place, which decided “the unconditional and eternal union of Bucovina, up to its old borders at Ceremuș, Colacin and Nistru, with the Kingdom of Romania.” The fulfillment of Greater Romania was accomplished by the proclamation of the Union of Transylvania with Romania, on December 1, 1918, in Alba Iulia. Among the 1228 official delegates from the National Constituent Assembly were many clergymen. At the Grand Council of the Romanian Nation, as well as in the Governing Council, servants of the Church were also elected, and the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Caransebes, Miron Cristea, the future Metropolitan-Primate (1919) and then Patriarch of Greater Romania (1925), and the Greek-Catholic Bishop of Gherla, Iuliu Hossu, were elected in the delegation of four people who presented the Act of Union to King Ferdinand.

Afterward, HE Nicolae evoked with emotion the participation in the celebration of the Centenary of this event, on December 1, 2018, in Alba Iulia. The celebration of the Centenary followed the events related to the consecration of the Mântuirea Neamului in Bucharest on November 25, 2018, and the first celebration of the Cathedral’s patronal feast, that of Saint Andrew the Apostle, on November 30, 2018.

Many years to Romania! Many years to Romanians!