Patriarchal Blessing at St Eleftherios Church in Bucharest

St Eleftherios Church, a patriarchal parekklesion, celebrated on Wednesday, 15 December 2015, the feast of her patron saint – Hieromartyr Eleftherios. His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, was present among the faithful of this parish, on this feast day. The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church officiated the blessing service of the restored painting of the place of worship, and also blessed the new church bells and the new Cultural and Pastoral Centre, located at the semi-basement of the church. His Grace Varlaam of Ploiești, Assistant Bishop to the Romanian Patriarch, was also present together with His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel at the blessing service. His Grace had officiated the Divine Liturgy prior to the blessing service, being surrounded by an assembly of priests and deacons.

In his homily, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel spoke about the purpose of the church painting. “This painting invites us to confess the true faith, it urges us to pray more. When a church is painted, we never feel alone, because we pray together with the saints. The painting calls us to receive the Holy Fathers as our teachers and intercessors; it invites us to look for the imperishable beauty of the Heavenly Kingdom. This is the purpose of the painting in the Orthodox Church”, His Beatitude said, according to Radio Trinitas.

In his homily, the Romanian Patriarch also spoke about the significance of the church bells. “The bells call the living to prayer, mourn the departed and scatter the clouds. But from all these beneficial functionalities of the church bell we firstly have to remember that the bell is the voice of God calling us to prayer”, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said.

Next, His Beatitude granted different awards to the persons especially involved in the completing of the works at this church.

One of the few Romanian churches dedicated to St Hieromartyr Eleftherios, St Eleftherios Church in Bucharest is also one of the most beautiful churches in the capital city of Romania. The foundation stone was laid in 1935. During the Second World War, the construction was interrupted, and thus the church was hardly consecrated in 1971.

Source: basilica.ro