"Prayer makes man the Church of God, but also his priest, for Christ himself is in the soul that prays together with the Holy Spirit, who prays with unutterable sighs in us or is engraved in our soul in prayer, because the Church is not only the place where man prays, but also the place where Christ is"
(Father Dumitru Stăniloae).
In the Orthodox Christian tradition, salvation is seen as a continuous process of deification, in which the believer is called to grow in holiness and communion with God. The Divine Liturgy, frequent Holy Communion and other holy services are important moments when the faithful receive the grace of the Holy Spirit and are more closely united with Christ, while chanting brings a deep and spiritual experience to the faithful.
Additionally, the feast day of a church is the feast of the spiritual patron of that church and is an important moment in the liturgical calendar of that community. The Romanian Orthodox faithful in New York participate annually with holy emotion in the feast day of St. Nicholas and St. George Church in Queens, NY, to celebrate and honor the patron saint of their church. This gives the Romanian community of New York a chance to come together, strengthen their faith and celebrate together their religious values and holy customs.
This beautiful tradition was continued this year when, on 9-10 December 2023, His Eminence Nicolae, Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas, made a pastoral visit to our parish, bringing, as always, great joy and celebration to the faithful.
Furthermore, the celebration of the church's feast day itself opened on Saturday evening with the celebration of the Great Vespers with Litany by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae, Father Marius Dumitrescu, along with Father Theodor Damian of Saints Peter and Paul Church, Astoria, NY and Father John Proteasa of the Church of St. Andrew in Jamaica, NY. In his homily at the end of Vespers His Eminence spoke concerning the lives and teachings of the early December Fathers, recalling St. Porphyry Cavsocalivite (December 2nd), St. George, Abbot of Cernica (3rd of December), St. John of Damascus (4th of December), and St. Sava the Blessed (5th of December).
Moreover, on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. a large group of faithful and the choir of priests dressed in beautiful liturgical vestments awaited the arrival of the hierarch, while the choir, led by Danut Grigoras, was engaged in the service of the Matins. His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae soon arrived in the holy place, being welcomed with the traditional welcome hymn for the archbishop: "Our Lord and Archbishop, Lord, keep him for many years" by the parish priest with the Holy Gospel and Holy Cross and by Father Abbot Jeremiah, the Monastery of St. Dumitru, Middletown, NJ and Father Maxim, Sihastria Putnei Monastery.
The Holy and Divine Liturgy began at the appointed hour, and the hierarch, priests and faithful felt a close communion in prayer, creating an atmosphere of holy and God-blessed peace and joy, like that in heaven.
The children of the parish Sunday School and the faithful received Holy Communion, and at the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Panihida was celebrated for the deceased founders and ministers of the church.
In his touching and edifying sermon, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae spoke first about the Gospel pericope of the 27th Sunday after Pentecost (healing of the weeping woman): "God extends His merciful and healing hands to us, and it is fitting that we should imitate the widow of the widow and bring glory to God; the widow of the widow is called by the Savior the daughter of Abraham, which means the daughter of faith, she had faith for 18 years to come to the temple and pray and now the Lord heals her." "Let us take care of our children and raise them in the Christian faith and let us not forget and help the sick", said His Eminence.
In the second part of the sermon he recalled the life of St. Nicholas and urged the faithful present to practice Christian virtues, to live a pure life, to do acts of charity and love towards God and neighbor, to live a high Orthodox spiritual life, to fast and to pray, St. Nicholas being an example to be followed by all the faithful who are on the way to the kingdom of God. "Let children learn the obedience of St. Hierarch Nicholas, and the young learn temperance, adults learn acts of mercy, and the elderly learn meekness and wisdom, and we, the servers of the holy altars, learn how to be examples and how to imitate St. Nicholas in his service. To be a Christian is to be merciful," said the High Hierarch.
Father Marius D. Dumitrescu in warm and sincere words thanked His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae for the honor and joy brought to the Church of St. Nicholas and St. George, NY, by his presence at this blessed moment in the life of the parish, and as a token of appreciation he offered as a gift the Icon of Mother of God of Kursk (copy), who healed St. Seraphim of Sarov as a child and was next to St. John Maximovici when he passed to the Lord. He then thanked the priest ministers and the faithful present at this Holy and Divine Liturgy.
We must also highlight the service at the Holy Altar of the young Teodor Dumitrescu, Antonie Bujoreanu, Nicholas Trepca, James Dascălu and the diligence of Dănuț Grigoraș at the pew together with the other singers.
After the end of the Divine Liturgy, there was a very moving artistic moment prepared by the children of the Sunday School, who, through their chosen interpretation and their instant innocence, dripped into the souls of the faithful the sweet myrrh of the Nativity carols. At the end, we all sang Many Years to His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae on his name day.
Finally, the event was attended by Her Excellency, Consul General of Romania in New York Simona Mihaela Florea, together with her husband, Mr. Cristian Boghian, Romanian Television of New York, Mr. Grigore Culian, New York Magazine and Mr. Ing. Cristian Pascu, President of the Romanian Christian Society DORUL, who presented His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae with the Magna Cum Laude Diploma and the Anniversary Medal on the 120thanniversary of the Society's uninterrupted existence on American soil. After the service, all the faithful participated in an Agape meal at the Romanian Garden restaurant.
Thank you to the organizers, donors and all the faithful of St. Nicholas and St. George Church, NY, who prepared this holy and blessed day of our patron saint, St. Nicholas. May the good Lord reward their love and sacrifice!
Glory to God for all!
Fr. Marius D Dumitrescu
