The 5th Sunday of the Great Lent, which coincided this year with the feast of the Annunciation, was an opportunity for great joy at Ss. Constantine and Helen Cathedral of Chicago. After the Divine Liturgy, a Te Deum service was officiated on the occasion of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Union of Bessarabia with the Mother country, Romania, on March 27, 1918. On this occasion Mr. Tiberiu Trifan, the Consul General of Romania in Chicago, was present in the middle of the Cathedral believers.

In the sermon, Father Vasile Muresan explained the Holy Gospel of the day, then made a brief presentation of the anniversary moment and reminded that the proclamation of the canonization of Saints Joseph the Merciful and Gheorghe Pelerinul (The Pilgrim), a moment of great spiritual joy, took place in Iaşi especially that St. Joseph was originally from Bessarabia.

After the Te Deum service, a festive meal was prepared in the social hall of the Cathedral. Mr. Tiberiu Trifan expressed the joy of being among the faithful of the Cathedral, made a brief presentation of the anniversary moment, and mentioned some events that the General Consulate of Romania in Chicago will organize during this centennial year to commemorate the historical moment of the Great Union on 1 December 1918.

Later, Andrei Mărginean, a student at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Sibiu and a spiritual son of the Cathedral, made a presentation on the events of March 27, 1918, from which we celebrate 100 years. In his exposition, Andrei recalled the steps made by the politicians of those times before taking the decision of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, but also the involvement of the Romanian Orthodox Church in fulfilling this desideratum of the Romanians on the two banks of the Prut.