St. Demetrios the New Monastery in Middletown, NY celebrated its summer patron saint, the Ascension of the Lord, on Saturday, June 12, 2021. The joy of the great feast began on the eve with the service of Great Vespers with Lithya and continued the next day with the service of Matins and Divine Liturgy performed by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae along with 9 priests and a deacon. As every year, the founders and benefactors of the monastery who passed to the Lord were not forgotten, being mentioned at the Memorial service, which followed the Divine Liturgy. The grace of this beautiful holiday was shared with a large number of believers, some of them happily wearing the Romanian national costume.
The sermon of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae referred to the Ascension of the Lord and pointed out some interpretations of the feast. Among other things, His Eminence emphasized:
Christ ascended to heaven to ascend us also to heaven. Christ, the Son of God, God Himself, descended to take our body, our sick nature, which was directed to the earth, which had lost all connection with God, to heal it… The purpose of our life is the same: let us rise from earth to heaven, from death to life, from our many, persistent earthy preoccupations to the heavenly ones. And the finality, the purpose of our existence is not to put our body in the grave, but to be raised up. This is the purpose of the Christian life that we will not only achieve someday, at the end of the ages, and until then we will remain here, clinging to the passing ones. But it is the purpose of our life right now, during this life.
At the end of the sermon, His Eminence mentioned another reason for celebration and joy, namely the 10th anniversary of the church's consecration on June 5, 2011. At the same time, giving thanks to God and thanking the faithful who donated and helped the monastery, the improvements it has had so far have also been recalled. His Eminence also offered a gift to the faithful, an icon specially prepared for the Solemn Year of the pastoral care of Romanians outside Romania, depicting the icon of the "Mother of God of Guadalupe" (1531) with Saints Emperors Constantine and Helen, St. Raphael of Brooklyn (the first ordained Orthodox bishop on American soil, 1905) and Saint George the Pilgrim (Romanian pilgrim from the 19th century). The community of the monastery offered, in its turn, to the Metropolitan Father an icon of the Mother of God "Sweet kiss". During the fraternal agape, a short artistic program was organized. It started with three patriotic songs performed by a group of young people, members of the association ROYA (Romanian Orthodox Youth of the Americas). Two excerpts from Ciprian Porumbescu's Ballad and Romanian Rhapsody followed, respectively, performed on violin by the talented Ana Constantin. Ana's virtuoso performance was greeted with applause by those present and brought tears to the eyes of many. The program ended with two Romanian songs performed by the children's choir of St. Nicholas Parish in Queens, New York. God's blessing was felt in everything: in the perfect weather, in the crowd of pilgrims, in the joy that flooded their hearts, in the peace and joy that floated in the air. Thank God for everything!
Protosynghellos Ieremia
