mercy

Patriarch Daniel: Christ calls us to show mercy at all times, following the healing at Bethesda

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania underlined on Sunday that “Jesus Christ teaches us that at all times we must do good, showing merciful love and offering help to those who suffer, the sick and the lonely.” The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church interpreted the Gospel passage of the healing of the paralysed man…

May 5, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

God changes hearts through His overwhelming goodness, not punishment, Patriarch Daniel says

“God wants to change the hearts and lives of people not so much through punishment, illness, troubles, or rebukes, but especially through His overwhelming goodness,” said Patriarch Daniel on Sunday in his sermon about Zacchaeus, the tax collector. “Since the Lord Christ did not rebuke Zacchaeus but honoured him with a visit to his house,…

Jan 27, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel: Fasting alone is not enough without acts of mercy

“It is not enough to abstain from harming others; one must also do much good to achieve salvation,” Patriarch Daniel reminded the faithful last Sunday during his sermon at the Chapel of St. George the Great Martyr in the Patriarchal Residence. Reflecting on the Gospel reading about Christ’s dialogue with a rich young ruler (Luke…

Nov 28, 2024Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Nathanael, in Archpastoral Encyclical, calls for living as doers of mercy

Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago called for becoming doers of mercy to guide individual lifestyles, blending a biting critique of the tendency to interpret the mercy of God in extreme ways with a plea for pursuing mercy as a way of life to be authentically human. The vision that Metropolitan Nathanael outlined in a 13-page archpastoral…

Sep 12, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel: ‘Have mercy on me, o God’ is the call to the only source of eternal life – Christ

‘After every troparion of the Great Canon of Repentance of Saint Andrew of Crete we have this calling, this insistent supplication, as a breath of the Church: Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,’ Patriarch Daniel said at the end of the Great Canon officiated at the Patriarchal Cathedral on Clean Monday.…

Mar 14, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Hatred, disunity, enmity dehumanize, cautions Romanian Patriarch Daniel

During his homily delivered Sunday at the Pasarea Monastery near Bucharest, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel offered his reflections on the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:23-35), cautioning that forgiveness draws peace, while hatred, disunity, and enmity dehumanize. ‘Forgiveness in today’s gospel in not just a simple individual attitude. It refers to the community, however…

Aug 13, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu