The Romanian Orthodox Parish of Saint Parascheva in Wakefield, a city that is part of the great metropolis of Boston, celebrates this year 25 years since its founding in 1996. This shows us the care of the Lord for His Church and the help of Saint Parascheva, who directed our ministry.

In 1996, at the request of several families, with the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Victorin, Father Nicholas Apostola, the Parish Priest of St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church in Worcester, Massachusetts, organized the Saint Parascheva Mission serving the new Romanian community and compiling the necessary documentation for the church to function according to the statute, ordinances, laws and regulations of operation, as well as to have a permanent priest.

In December 1996, at the invitation of HE Victorin, I arrived with my family on American soil for a mission that, we believe, has borne fruit. After two and a half years of our community being hosted by the Greek, Armenian and Syrian sister churches, we managed, through the efforts of the faithful, to buy in 1999 the current church from a Baptist community. After almost three more years of consolidating the community and the necessary preparations, the foundation of the church was laid on October 13, 2002 by His Eminence, Archbishop Nicolae, together with His Grace, Bishop Gherasim of Râmnic.

The community kept growing, and as such, alongside the monthly payment of the debt to the bank, we continued the works of consolidation and beautification of the church and the social hall. The stairs, the roof, the doors, the windows, the kliroi were changed, culminating with a new iconostasis of American cherry wood that I myself made, while the royal icons were painted in Romania by Manole Pătrașcu. We continued with the remodeling of the social hall, the change of the central heating system and a new kitchen, the church currently having everything necessary to function optimally. Last year we also rejoiced as we paid the integral debt to the bank, the church of St. Parascheva thus receiving the deed of ownership.

Apart from administrative work, spiritual ministry was what brought great joy. The community has grown since 1996 from 30-40 families to almost 450 families today. The care for children and their spiritual education has been uninterrupted since 2000. We all feel the presence of Saint Parascheva in our midst, our parish having inside the church a set of one of her holy vestments, received from the Metropolia of Moldavia, through the care of His Eminence, Metropolitan Teofan.

By the grace of God, this year we are celebrating 25 years since the church was founded. We were glad to have among us on this anniversary HE Metropolitan Nicolae, the joy being crowned by the presence of the priests and the parish delegates from the Deanery of the Eastern USA at the Assembly that took place on October 15-16.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, our Father, the Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Two Americas, reminded us how important it is for the seed of the word of the Holy Gospel to bear fruit through the good deeds done for our fellow men. It is worth mentioning here that our parish participated in raising funds for the construction of the National Cathedral in Bucharest and of the new hospital in Piatra Neamț.

I would also like to take this chance in order to thank all the members and believers who have been with me and I ask the merciful God to rest with the righteous the souls of those who have departed to His Kingdom!

Many Blessed Years to the Saint Parascheva Romanian Orthodox Church in Wakefield, MA!

Parish Priest Nicolae Simion