“Why does all creation mystically grin on feast days? Why then, does
a wonderful ease flow into the heart, unlike earthly ones, and the very
air becomes an altar and a church bearing light? It is the breeze of
Your grace, it is the radiance of Tabor, heaven and earth then sing praise: Alleluia!”
Kontakion 9 of the Akathist of thanksgiving Glory to God for all things.
Today is a day of celebration. It is the National Day of Romania and the soul, distant for years from the ancestral lands, is thirsty to see, to feel at least for a moment closer to Romania. But who could imagine that in the middle of Latin America we could find such a corner of Romanian Heaven? Hidden in the middle of the vegetation rises a small wooden church, in Maramures style, dressed for the holiday, and decorated with the Romanian tricolor in the spire: the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena in Caracas, Venezuela.
Once you enter the wooden gate, you feel at home; you are greeted by the icons of the saints guarding the entrance to the church, surrounded by the tricolor flags that guard the entrance. Th saints are reminiscent of the icons in Romanian churches. They look at you with humility and love. The Romanian flag on the left, the table in front of the altar are also decorated. Everything is ready for the holiday.
How much emotion fills the soul when you hear the national anthem sung in the pew, in a foreign land sung in Romanian by a church full of Venezuelans. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1565438734075124
But, for a moment, you feel at home. And tears fill you when you know that all those who sing, or are in the church on this day, are originally from Venezuela. Mr. Constantin Cristescu was the only Romanian who participated with emotion and joy in the holy services.
We must thank Father Antonio Garcia and the community in Venezuela for the emotion and joy they spread, through the dedication and love they showed towards the Romanian people, because through these photos and videos, I felt at home, and closer to Romania.
The National Day of Romania was also celebrated in the Parish of Saint John the New of Partoș, Quito, Ecuador.
On Sunday, November 24, 2024, in the chapel of the Annunciation, in the colonial center of Quito, the Romanian Orthodox Mission of Saint John the New of Partoș, celebrated, in advance, the National Day of Romania. This celebration was preceded by the Sacrament of Confession by all those present, then the Divine Liturgy was celebrated and a Te Deum was held, for the National Day of Romania. Through the care of the housewives, a small banquet was organized for those present. On this occasion, Father Esteban Diaz from Barranquilla, Colombia was delegated to participate in such an important event.
In the Parish of Saint Silouan of Mount Athos, in Concepción, Chile, the celebration of Romania’s National Day was held as a multi-ethnic celebration where the warm visit of the ambassadors of the State of Palestine, the Republic of Lebanon, the Kingdom of Morocco and a delegation of an international aid agency for the Holy City of Jerusalem was received and prayers were offered for Romania and the Romanian community in Chile, for peace in the Middle East and also for peace in Russia and Ukraine. The words of Father Alex Aedo, the parish priest of the Romanian church in Chile, said the following on this occasion: “On this occasion we pray especially for the Romanian people in Romania and in the diaspora because the holiday of this country is celebrated on December 1, and Orthodoxy is part of the culture and spirituality of the Romanian people. We pray for our hierarchs, priests and the faithful of the Romanian people who live in Chile.”
The Parish of Saint Martyr John the Wallachian in Barranquilla, Colombia, with the parish priest Esteban Diaz, his family and parishioners all celebrated the National Day of Romania, also known as the Feast of Unity. Thanks to the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas, the National Romanian day is now a celebration of meeting and unity not only for many Romanian believers, but also of other ethnicities, who have found a second homeland in Colombia, on the Caribbean coast, in Barranquilla, and share part of their history. The celebration consisted of the Holy Liturgy, a Te Deum and a small meal for those present.
Among the believers who participated in the celebration, we mention the Honorary Consul of Romania in Barranquilla, Mr. Joseph Dacaret and his wife, as well as our believers of different nationalities. We wish the Romanian people a warm “Many Years!”
„What I wish for you, sweet Romania,
Young bride, mother with amour!
That your children live only in brotherhood
Like the stars of the night, like the dawn of day,
Life in eternity, glory, gladness,
Arms of strength, Romanian soul,
Dream of bravery, glory and pride,
Sweet Romania, this I wish for you!”
Mihai Eminescu
Notes by Iuliana Gheorghe
From Valdivia, Chile
