Tonight, 3 March 2009, the second part of the Canon of Saint Andrew the Cretan was read in the Orthodox churches, within the Great Compline. This rite, typical for the Lent is celebrated during the first four days of the Lent.

The religious service was celebrated in the Patriarchal Cathedral, by His Grace Vicenţiu Ploieşteanu, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, assisted by a group of priests and deacons, in the presence of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel. Just like the previous night, hundreds of faithful attended the service filling the holy place of worship.

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel spoke, during the sermon, about the spiritual meaning of the reverences that accompany the prayers during the Lent. “The reverences accompany the repentance prayer of the Church”, said His Beatitude. The reverence is, first of all, a sign of the desire of changing our spiritual mood, showed the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church. At the same time, “the reverence is a sign of humbleness and of our capacity to admit our mistakes in front of God and of the people” and “a sign of hope, of respect to God, as well as of the hope to reach the resurrection and salvation”. This is why “not the number is important, but the mood of the soul, when we make the reverences. If the reverences lead us to the peace of the soul, it is a sign that they have been received by God as an offer, as a participation of our body in the prayer of the soul. If the many reverences lead us to pride, then they can cause spiritual scattering to the mind and are not useful. So, the thoughts focused on Christ, on salvation, are useful, not the number of reverences.”