On the 6th Sunday after Pascha, May 13th, 2018, the Romanian Monastery of St. Dimitrios the New in Middletown, New York celebrated its second Feast Day, the Ascension of the Lord. The feast began on Saturday evening, with the celebration of the Great Vespers with Litya, and continued on the second day when His Eminence Nicolae, the Metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas, performed the Divine Liturgy, surrounded by the following priests: Protos. Vincentiu Temirov, Prof. Chad Hatfield, President of the St. Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary of New York, Fr. Marius Dumitrescu, Fr. Mircea Airinei, and Fr. Marius Lazar. The answers were given by the choir of St. Nicholas parish in New York. The celebration was attended by faithful from several parishes of the Metropolia on the East Coast of the US, as well as a delegation of the Romanian Consulate in New York led by Deputy Consul General Călin Radu Ancuţa.

The sermon was offered by His Eminence Nicolae, who has interpreted the gospel of the day, the healing of the blind man. HE Nicolae reminded that the Paschal season, which is nearing completion, is a period of confession of faith in the Resurrection of the Lord, along with the Apostles, the Myhrrbearing women, and all those who met the Risen Christ. But it is also a period of confession of faith in His divinity, together with the Samaritan woman and the blind man who had the opportunity to hear from the mouth of the Savior the direct confession “I am Messiah”. The hierarch urged all present to receive the proclamation that this confession of the Risen Christ is possible for those who meet him in the Church: "We are also witnesses and confessors to the Resurrection after we have met Him in the icon, in the Word of the Gospel, and in the Holy Eucharist. It is this Christ whom we have met in the Divine Liturgy that we can witness to the world."

HE Nicolae concluded the sermon reminding the celebration of the Centenary of Great Romania this year, with conferences and special activities organized in the Metropolia and parishes.

Father Chad Hatfield spoke about the partnership that exists between the Romanian Metropolia, the Faculty of Theology of Bucharest, on the one hand, and St. Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary of New York, on the other hand, through the Romanian students attending Master programs in New York. This partnership will be expanded by the participation of other Faculties of Theology in Romania.

After the Divine Liturgy, a memorial service was done for the founders and donors of the monastery who passed to the Lord, as well as for the makers of the Great Union in 1918. The believers participated in a fraternal agape organized by the monastery. More information about the St. Dimitrios the New Monastery in Middletown, New York can be found at www.sfdumitru.org.