The first Sunday of Great Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, a day of great Christian significance, this year had a double celebration at Cleveland. HE Metropolitan Nicolae was present at the Annunciation Parish to officiate the ordination to the priesthood of Deacon Petru Neaga. He served as a deacon for more than a year in our Cathedral. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, after the Ambon prayer, the children and youth of the Sunday School made a procession with the holy icons in the church. It was an exciting procession, both for children and young people, as well as for the faithful present.          

The second moment of the day followed. In the evening of Sunday of Orthodoxy, according to the many year tradition in Cleveland, the Vespers service was organized by the Greater Cleveland Council of the Orthodox Clergy (GCCOC). The host was Saint Michael’s Orthodox parish (OCA) having as parish priest Father John Memorich. HE Nicolae, being in Cleveland, was invited to preside the service. There were 19 priests, 1 deacon (Deacon Aurel Pâra from the Eparchial Center in Chicago) and a large number of believers. The sermon was given by Father Archimandrite Joseph Morris, the abbot of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Gregory Palamas of Perrysville, Ohio. At the end of the Vespers service, HE Nicolae, in a short message, urged believers to become confessors of Orthodox Christian faith in today's world. The evening ended with a lenten agape meal offered by the host parish.        

Fr. Ion Gherman