great lent

Patriarch Daniel: Jesus healed many, but only called some ‘son’

On the second Sunday of Lent, Patriarch Daniel of Romania spoke at the historic Chapel of St. George within the Patriarchal Residence about the healing grace of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Gospel account of the Paralytic’s Healing in Capernaum. “Jesus healed many sick people, but not all were called ‘son.’ However, to this…

Mar 18, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

The one who fasts breaks the infernal cycle of desire and pleasure, Archbishop Irineu says

“The one who fasts breaks the infernal cycle of desire and pleasure, hunger and satiety, redirecting their longing toward contemplating heavenly realities. This helps them walk in the renewal of life (Romans 6:4), living as a child of the resurrection (Luke 20:36),” Archbishop Irineu of Alba Iulia emphasized in a message on Clean Monday at…

Mar 4, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Andrei of Cluj: Prayer and fasting will help us overcome the world’s challenges

“It is clear to all of us that the world faces many problems, and we hope to overcome them with the help of prayer and fasting,” emphasized Metropolitan Andrei of Cluj, Maramureș, and Sălaj in his message at the beginning of Great Lent. His Eminence Metropolitan Andrei noted that this period offers an excellent opportunity…

Mar 3, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel: Fasting is an act of love for God, not a public display

“We do not fast to be seen or praised by people, but we fast to love God more,” said His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel on Sunday during the Divine Liturgy at the historic Chapel of the Holy Great Martyr George at the Patriarchal Residence. Regarding fasting itself, the Patriarch of Romania explained that the Gospel of…

Mar 3, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Oradea Bishop’s advice before Lent: Let us rediscover our humanity!

On Meatfare Sunday, His Grace Bishop Sofronie of Oradea celebrated the Divine Liturgy at Izbuc parish and delivered a sermon on the significance of good actions in determining our eternal destiny at the Final Judgement. “It is not by chance that the mercy we owe to one another, the brotherly love and the Frightful Judgment…

Mar 13, 2024Aurelian Iftimiu

Triodion begins: Patriarch Daniel urges learning good deeds from the Pharisee and humility from the publican

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel urged, at the onset of the Triodion, from the altar of the historic chapel of the patriarchal residence, that in order to be pleasing to God, we should emulate the Pharisees’ practice of conducting good deeds and the tax collector’s humility. Triodion begins His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel noted that Orthodox believers…

Feb 27, 2024Aurelian Iftimiu

Alba Iulia Archbishop Irineu: Great Lent is a time of purification and illumination

In a message at the beginning of Great Lent, Archbishop Irineu of Alba Iulia called the Lenten season “a time of purification and illumination.” The Romanian Archbishop noted that fasting “is a gift offered to us by the Church”, and through specific religious services, we are reminded that “sin and death have distanced us from…

Feb 27, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch: Great Lent is an invitation to discover the Church as a place and way of sanctification

“Holy and Great Lent is an invitation for us to discover the Church as a place and way of sanctification and sanctity, as a foretaste and image of the splendid radiance, of the fullness of life and of the complete joy in the eschatological Kingdom,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople highlighted in his catechetical homily…

Mar 4, 2022Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel: Christ overturns the logic of worldly thinking / Honour derives not from personal ambition

Patriarch Daniel recalled on Sunday the lesson that Christ taught His disciples when He received the request of the apostles James and John to hold worldly positions and pointed out that the Saviour had overturned the selfish logic of worldly thinking; a type of logic encountered even today in contemporary society. Christ showed them that…

Apr 20, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

The fasting season involves a spiritual struggle, Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam says

In his sermon delivered last Friday at the Patriarchal Cathedral, the Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploieşti stressed that “the fasting season involves a spiritual struggle with ourselves, against the temptations that come from around us and, especially, against the spirits of evil.” His Grace said that the Mother of God comes to the aid…

Apr 20, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

A tear from the bottom of the heart could blot out many of our sins: Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova

“The Great Canon is a treasure to which we must reflect for hours and days in a row,” His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova said on the first evening of Lent at the Patriarchal Cathedral. “Tears” is one of the themes of this treasure that the bishop spoke about in his sermon. The Assistant…

Mar 18, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu