The Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate informs us:

During the working session of 25 – 26 February 2009, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided that the first Sunday after 1 June – the International Children’s Day – should be instituted as the Sunday of the Parents and Children, mentioned in the church calendar at the rubric Important dates and included in the liturgical and pastoral-missionary programmes of each eparchy.

On the occasion of the Sunday of the Parents and Children, 6 June 2010, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church addresses the following message:

THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY GROWS IN THE LOVE OF THE HOLY TRINITY

Dear parents,

This Sunday, the second after the Descent of the Holy Spirit, we remember all the Romanian Saints. The celebration of our Christian-Orthodox forerunners, who obeyed the call of God to holiness, represents a blessed opportunity for celebrating the Sunday of the Parents and Children, scheduled by the Holy Synod of our Church in order to promote more intensely the communion of love between parents and children, at this time of spiritual and economical crisis.

The love for God and for our fellow beings, reflected in the lives of the Romanian Saints also refers to the love between the family members. During the year we are living, dedicated to the Orthodox Creed, we must grow even more in faith and good deeds, in good care and love for the children whom we grow, because they are the gift of God for the family, Church and society.

The blessing of the Holy Trinity can be seen in the family as follows: “the parents who ran to God-the-Father are good parents for their children; the sons who knew God-the-Son are good sons for those who gave birth to them; those who have the Bridegroom (Christ) in their minds are good husbands for their wives” (Clement the Alexandrine, Urge to Greeks, 107.3).

Let us live our faith in the family so as the family should really become “the Church at home”, in which the love of the Holy Trinity may be a source of love and joy for all the members of the family.

Dear children,

The love for the parents who gave birth to you and who grow you is reflected especially in the obedience and respect for them. Remember that Christ, our Lord, the Incarnated Son of God, was a child, growing in obedience both to God-the-Father and to the Saint Virgin Mary and to the Righteous Joseph. So, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour.” (Luke 2:52).

Because your parents are the gift of God-the-Father for you, you must insist in praying for them. So, the filial love you show will be light and joy for your parents.

Dear parents and children,

We pray God to give you peace and good health, much joy and help on the way of true faith and good deeds, feeling in the life of your family the work of “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 13:13).

† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church