Sermon of His Beatitude DANIEL, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, on the occasion of the consecration of the place and the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of a Romanian church in Munich, Germany, Sunday, 11 September 2011:

1. Consecration of a place for the building of a new church is a special event in the life of an Orthodox community.

Why is that? Because a new church, as a place of worship, represents a new „Gate of heaven” and a new „House of God” (cf. Genesis 28:22), and its construction brings together people in prayer and action. The construction of a new church requires a big physical and financial effort from a community. At the same time, the building of a church is an act with a deep spiritual significance, because a church is not a private home, but a house of an ecclesial community; it is the protector and inspiring architectural cover of a community of human persons that are in spiritual communion with God, His saints and each other. In the sacred space of a brick-built church, earth and heaven, time and eternity, faithful living on earth with those from heavens, but also generations among themselves meet. This gathering of all people in communion of faith and love is sanctifying and redeeming, because love which is coming out of prayer overcomes space and time, which separate people from one another.

The prayers red at the consecration of a place and at the laying down of a foundation stone for the building of a church show us that the vocation of the church – place of worship is to bring together in faith and prayer people coming from the four cardinal directions of the earth, east, west, south, north, in order to orientate them towards Christ, the Dayspring from on high, and to bring them in the Kingdom of Heavens or the Kingdom of the Most Holy Trinity, symbolised by the Holy Altar. A special attention is given to the laying down of the foundation stone, because the stone sprinkled with blessed water and oil symbolises both Christ, the corner Stone, and the firm confession of the faith in the divinity of Christ, as being the foundation of the salvation of the human being, as its union with the eternally living God. The Cross stuck in the ground next to the foundation stone symbolises the Crucified and Resurrected Christ, source of sacrificing love and of paschal joy. Therefore, much sacrificial love is needed also from the part of the faithful for the building of a new church, so that, later on, when the new church is consecrated, all those who worked hard or have offered money for the building of the church acquire the joy of the Resurrection in their souls.

The prayer for the consecration of the place where the Holy Table of the Holy Altar will be located is the most solemn prayer and it is read kneeled. Why is that so? Because the Holy Table represents Christ Himself, Who, after having supper with His disciples and instituting the Holy Eucharist, went to Crucifixion, Tomb, Resurrection and Ascension in glory to heavens. Therefore, those who believe in Christ, love Him and obey His commandments, take His Body and His Blood in the Holy Eucharist and prepare themselves to ricive the joy of the eternal life in the Kingdom of God. In this sense, the church on earth is the antechamber of the heavenly Kingdom as St Nicholas Cabasilas says. Since the moment of the consecration of the place on which it will be built, the new church is put under the protection or the spiritual patronage of one or more saints, in order to show that the main purpose for which a church is built is the sanctification of the life of human beings and the attaining of their redemption or of eternal life in communion with God the Holy One. The two protectors of the new Romanian church, which is to be built here in Munich, are the Holy Cross (celebrate on 14 September) and St Hierarch Calinic from Cernica (celebrated on 11 April). Thus, the Romanian Orthodox believers, who wear the cross of the phenomenon of migration of their departure far away from the country where they were born, will feel also the joy of the Resurrection as a state of brotherly communion lived here, in the church, under the protection of the Holy Cross and of the prayers of St Hierarch Calinic from Cernica.

2. The spiritual activity will be interwoven with the social activity.

The liturgical activity of the new church will be undertaken by a Romanian monastic community and it will be combined with a social-cultural and social-charitable or philanthropic activity. More concretely, next to the new church, an ecclesiastic institution will be built, which will comprise: the Episcopal headquarters and the monastery, an educational centre for children and youth, as well as a centre for coordinating charitable activities for sick and old people.

This combination of the spiritual life with the social activity of the Church is inspired by the messianic work of our Saviour Jesus Christ Himself, in which the preaching of the Gospel is followed by the healing of the sick and feeding of the poor.

3. The building of the new church in Munich is a Christian-Orthodox and ecumenical work.

The piece of land needed for the construction of the new church and of the nearby buildings has been bought by the Romanian Orthodox community in Munich with the substantial financial support of the Evangelical Church and of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, whom we thank today most warmly, appreciating this gesture as being a fraternal act of Christian solidarity in times of economic crisis.

We thank, also, Mrs Barbara Stamm, President of the Parliament of Bavaria for the help given in sustaining the project of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Germany, Central and Northern Europe. We thank all the institutions and persons who have contributed and will contribute in the completion of this very necessary religious and social-cultural project towards preserving the religious and ethnic identity of the Romanian Orthodox Christians from Germany, but also for their integration in the context of today’s German society.

We congratulate His Eminence Dr. Serafim Joantă, Metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox in Germany and His Grace Dr. Sofian Pătrunjel, Assistant Bishop, for initiating this project, with symbolic value and practical use, which should be taken up also in other parts of the Romanian Diaspora.

With paternal and fraternal love in Christ, we encourage all the Romanian Orthodox Christians from Germany to help with money in the construction of this new church, in order to receive the blessing of being its founder or benefactor.

We thank all of you here present and we wish you good health, peace and joy. We pray God to help us so that we may soon see the completion of the construction of this church, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity and the joy of the people. Amen.

† DANIEL
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church