On November 9-10, 2024, the Holy Martyrs Brâncoveni Mission in Fairfield, Connecticut, had the special joy of receiving the pastoral visit of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas on the occasion of the consecration of the new place of worship. In July 2024, the Holy Martyrs Brâncoveni Mission acquired the building of the former Lutheran church of St. Trinity from the town of Shelton, Connecticut, thus becoming the new place of worship of our Mission.
On Saturday, November 9, 2024, the members of the Parish Council welcomed His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae with flowers, bread and salt, according to the ancient tradition. The celebration began with the Saturday evening Vespers officiated by the Most Reverend Father Nicolae, with a group of priests, while the answers to the pew were given by the choir of the Holy Martyrs Brâncoveni Mission. The evening service was preceded by a meeting of Metropolitan Nicolae with the members of the Parish Council and was followed by a fraternal agape.
On Sunday, November 10, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae served the Divine Liturgy with several priests, in the spiritual beauty of the songs offered by the choir of our Mission. The Divine Liturgy was preceded by the service of Lesser Blessing of the Water celebrated for the new building. In the sermon, the Metropolitan Nicolae interpreted the Gospel from Luke, from the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, which tells the parable of the Good Samaritan:
"The Holy Fathers see in this parable the history of our salvation, respectively, the fact that our Savior Jesus Christ is the Good Samaritan; He is the One who comes to raise mankind fallen under passions and sins, in diseases and infirmities, to raise them from sin and death; just as, unexpectedly, a stranger came to the aid of one who had fallen among robbers, so God Himself descends to raise up His creation, to bring it back to life, and even to grant it eternity.
On the path of life, on the path of salvation, the priests and levites, the servants of the Old Testament should have been the first to help the man who fell under sin. They did not do this, but God Himself had to come to raise man, God Himself had mercy to raise man from sin and helplessness. The wine and oil that the Good Samaritan poured on the wounds of the one who fell among the robbers are the Mysteries of the Church: the oil of Baptism and the wine of Holy Communion; with these, through these, Christ raises us from sin, from sickness and from weakness. So, the Church is the guest house where we can find our spiritual and physical healing. St. John Chrysostom assures us that the Church is a hospital where people are healed, not a court where they are judged. Therefore, in this parable, we find an answer to a personal question: how we should look around us and consider our fellows; also we discover presented, symbolically, the very history of our salvation."
The Divine Liturgy was also attended by Reverend Father Adrian Budică, chaplain at Clinical Pastoral Education and associate professor at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary from New York.
The Reverend Father Mihai Faur addressed a word of thanks to the clergy and all the faithful who participated in large numbers in this hierarchical service, as well as to all those who sacrificed and labored with love for these days of celebration. The service was followed, as always, by a fraternal agape.
For all this, we can only give glory and thank God!
Parish priest Mihai Faur
