St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church in the Atlanta area (Dacula) has just celebrated its feast day on Sunday,October 1st, 2023, the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God. For 22 years, the faithful of this holy Church have been striving to make the name day of the holy place of worship a special one, and to remain in the memory of those in the area for a long time. The celebration began with a Vespers service on Saturday evening, which was attended by Fr. David Hudson of St. Gregory Romanian Orthodox Mission in Greenville, SC and Fr. George Acsente of Ss. Constantine and Helen Church in Lilburn, GA. The feast day icon was beautifully adorned by the ladies of the parish and was united with the service of Vespers with Lytia, where the three priests prayed for the health of those present and those who are part of the Romanian community in the Atlanta area.
The next day at the Divine Liturgy of the feast, Fr. Nicolae spoke to the faithful about the feast of the Holy Protection and about the Church of Blachernae, where the Mother of God made her presence known at least twice. He then also spoke about the miracles and the protection of the Mother of God enjoyed by the Church of Dacula and about the special devotion of the community to their Patroness.
After Fr. Nicolae’s sermon, a special guest from Romania, Remus Bondar (a folk singer in the Bihorul Ensemble from Oradea), performed two hymns dedicated to the Mother of God.
The faithful present at the feast of the feast day and their guests then participated in the Romanian Autumn Festival organized by the parish. The Bihorul Ensemble from Oradea with their dancers and two singers brought the Bihor dance and song to the churchyard. Remus Bondar and Romina Suciu had delighted the audience with their authentic songs, and Dan Buturcă intervened with some light music collages. The Miorița dance group of the parish children and the Bucovina dance group from Atlanta also participated.
Those present were able to visit the museum with various traditional and historical Romanian artifacts which were professionally displayed and prepared for the exhibition by Mrs. Aurelia Ionescu, and those who wished to purchase such new objects could do so in a small Romanian market organized for this purpose.
Finally, the celebration of the Church's feast day ended with the presence of over 500 people who all enjoyed Romanian food, music, dance, and good cheer, and last but not least, many special desserts as well.
Fr. Nicolae Clempuș
