Today, 6 January, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. The feast reminds of the Baptism of the Lord in the River Jordan and of His recognition as Messiah by Saint John the Baptist.

In the sermon delivered at the Patriarchal Cathedral after reading the evangelical pericope, His Beatitude showed the importance of the appearance of the Holy Trinity to all people.

“This discovery of the Holy Trinity gives an ultimate meaning of our life, namely that the purpose of man is the heavenly eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity. So, when we are baptised in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we become beloved sons of God according to the grace through the faith in God-the-Son who was made man out of love for the humans and for their salvation. So, we see that at the same time with the Baptism of the Lord the way to the Christian baptism is opened for the humans to become sons of God according to the grace. Today, we celebrate this Holy Great Feast with much joy because we see the unlimited love beyond understanding of the Most Holy Trinity for the human race. We see how much God loves us, Who sent His Son in the world to open our way to the eternal happiness and life in the Kingdom of the Most Holy Trinity”, said His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, as Trinitas Radio station.

His Beatitude spoke about the baptism of repentance and about the Christian baptism.

“Jesus Christ, our sinless Saviour, receives the baptism of repentance in order to show us too that there is no salvation without repentance. Repentance is the preparation for forgiving the sins. But the baptism by John for repentance was not the full true baptism; he only prepared the humans to receive the true baptism, namely the Christian baptism. The baptism by John is only the baptism by which man becomes aware of the sins of his life and expresses his desire to improve himself, but it remains only a baptism of repentance as preparation for the baptism of the faith in Christ, or the Christian baptism. So, the forgiveness of the sins is acquired through the baptism celebrated in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, when besides the forgiveness of the sins, we also get the gift of adoption, namely the gift of becoming sons of God according to the grace. This is why when referring to the baptism by Saint John the Baptist, Saint Basil the Great said: This was the beginning of the baptism, namely the preparation for the true baptism, and the Baptism of Christ, the Christian baptism, which we have from Jesus Christ, our Saviour, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity is the true, full and perfect baptism. This baptism of repentance as preparation for the baptism of faith in Jesus Christ is a stage of becoming aware of the fact that the world needs forgiveness of the sins for getting eternal life”, also said His Beatitude.

After the Divine Liturgy, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrated the Great Blessing of Water in front of the Patriarchal Residence, at 11.30 hours.