The Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate informs:

On the occasion of the feast of the Ascension of the Lord – Day of the Heroes, 13 May 2010 - His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, addressed the following message:

Sacrifice On Earth And Glory In Heaven On The Day Of The Ascension Of The Lord – Honour To The Heroes Of The Nation

In the Romanian conscience, the great feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, our Lord, to heaven is united, in a significant and holy tradition with the honour brought to the memory of the Heroes of the Nation who have laid the great sacrifice of their own lives, throughout the centuries, to the foundation of the historical fulfilment of the Romanian people for defending their ancient land and faith, for freedom, dignity and state unity.

This year it is 90 years since the unification of these two great feasts of the Romanian spirituality and history has been officially established, on 4 May 1920.

Understood from the point of view of the significance of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, to heaven, the sacrifice all the heroes made on the altar of the highest ideals of the righteous Romanian people gets, in its turn, the value of a symbol consonant with the very divine gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed in the Church, as a result of the Ascension of the Lord. Just like the Ascension of Christ, in glory, after His saving sacrifice, the supreme sacrifice of the heroes’ lives contributes to the ascension of the people in the holy gift of national freedom, unity and dignity.

So, the rich fruitful sacrifice is expressed in its entire greatness and value for the generations of sons of our people who were, are and will be the beneficiaries of this precious gift of the Romanian heroes.

So, the Day of the Heroes, stemmed from the same significance of the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, wakes up, as natural, in the conscience of all Romanians the feeling of deep gratitude towards all the sons of our people who raised, throughout the centuries, through the sacrifice of their own lives, to the level of the supreme generosity towards their fellow beings and their homeland, higher than the appreciation of their own existence in the world.

It is with deep gratitude in our soul and mind that we appreciate all the heroes, of long time ago, of the fights for freedom, unity and defence of Christianity and of the whole of Europe, those from Posada, Rovine, Vaslui, Războieni, Călugăreni or Şelimbăr, those from the War of Independence of 1877 – 1878, of the battles of the War for the completeness of the nation of 1916 – 1918, those who gave their lives for their country in 1941 – 1945 on the fronts of the World War II, those who sacrificed themselves for freedom and faith in December 1989, as well as all those who made their supreme sacrifice where the country sent them on a mission during the last few years.

May the light of the Day of the Heroes on the Day of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, to heaven, bestow in the souls of the Romanians from everywhere, the lifting feelings of the love of God, Nation and Homeland, as well as the feeling of gratitude towards all the Heroes of the Romanian nation, a feeling spiritually expressed in remembrance prayers and in solemn ceremonies of worship, for the glory of God and our dignity as nation.

† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church