HOLY APOSTLE PAUL IN BUCHAREST
Come and receive the blessing
October 23-29, 2008
Beloved pilgrims,
On the occasion of the celebration of 2000 years since the birth of Holy Apostle Paul, the Church’s greatest missionary and the author of most of the Biblical writings used in the Orthodox service, the holy relics of St Paul, the Apostle to the Nations, are being brought to Bucharest from Greece for a week (October 23-29, 2008), thanks to the benevolence of Most Rev. Panteleimon, Metropolitan of Veria, Nausa and Kampania.
The presence in Bucharest, over these feast days, of the holy relics of St Paul, together with those of Righteous Demetrios the New, the Protector of Bucharest, is a great blessing to us all: hierarchs, clergy, monastics, faithful pilgrims from Romania and abroad.
Holy Apostle Paul is, after our Savior Jesus Christ, the greatest teacher of the Gospel of God’s love for humans. The life of the Holy Apostle and Martyr shows how God’s grace worked in this man who became, from tormentor of the Church, its zealous shepherd and showed how very alive is the connection between Christ and His Church.
Worthy shepherd and enlightened theologian of Christ’s Church, who went through many tribulations and trials before his martyr death, Holy Apostle Paul teaches us, through word and deed, to love Christ and His Church, to be witnesses to the grace and love of the Holy Trinity, working within the Church, to honor God’s saints and to live the Christian life in holiness, as a preparation for the Resurrection and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. All the epistles or letters of Holy Apostle Paul show us how Christ’s Gospel must be lived practically: as repentance for sins, as joy of forgiveness and of our reconciliation with God and with each other, as a life of prayer, holiness, brotherly love and good deeds.
Holy Apostle Paul is the teacher of Christian family, which he calls a Mystery, being an icon of light of the love of Groom Christ towards His Bride – the Church, as he teaches us in the Epistle read during the Service of the Holy Matrimony (Ephesians 5:20-32). At the same time, Holy Apostle Paul is a teacher of evangelical advices and of monastic life as a spiritual struggle for the shedding of passions and gaining of holiness, as he highlights in the same Epistle to the Ephesians (6:10-18).
Holy Apostle Paul is, at the same time, a teacher of Christian life in the midst of society, persuading Christians to live a pure and balanced life, to cooperate with state authorities for the common good of the society (Romans 13:1-8), to help the poor and the widows, to respect parents and the elderly, to raise children and youths in faith and holiness, to help needy church communities in a brotherly way.
Holy Apostle Paul teaches us, as well, to see the sky and earth as the work and gift of God for us humans (Romans 1:20), offering thus light for the dialog between faith and science, but also to contribute to the sanctification and protection of creation, of the environment.
In a special way, Holy Apostle Paul presents the earthly Christian time, in history, as a journey towards the heavenly homeland (Hebrews 11:13-16; 13:14).
In this light of Christian life as pilgrimage or seeking of holiness or of heavenly grace, St Paul is enriching, these days, the joy of all pilgrims who are venerating his holy relics together with those of Righteous Demetrios the New and of Holy Emperors Constantine and Helen, protectors of the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest. This church is being reconsecrated now, 350 years since its construction (1658 – 2008), but also 320 since the printing of the first complete translation of the Holy Scripture in Romanian (the Bible of Bucharest: 1688) and on the celebration of 500 years since the printing of the first Orthodox Euchologion in the world (the Euchologion of Macarie, 1508).
Beloved pilgrims,
In these days of blessing and joy, which Christ our Lord is giving us through His saints, we congratulate you all for coming to Bucharest and we are praying to the Allmerciful God to reward your faith and effort, your yearning and charity, with His grace and gifts, with health and redemption, peace and joy, help in your family and activity, with many and blessed years, to grow richer in faith and brotherly love, in holiness and good deeds, for the glory of the Most Holy Trinity, for the joy of the saints and for redemption.
Daniel,
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
THE PRESS OFFICE OF THE ROMANIAN PATRIARCHATE
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