On the 2nd Sunday after Easter (St. Thomas’ Sunday), HE Nicolae, the Metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas, was in the midst of the faithful of the Life-Giving Fountain parish of Long Valley, New Jersey, the Deanery of New York, New England and East USA. The joy of the pastoral visit of His Eminence began on Saturday afternoon with the meeting with the members of the Parish Council and the departments of construction and marketing of the new wooden church. Then it continued in the evening with the service of the Great Vespers, officiated together with Fr. Dean Daniel Ene, Protosynghellos Vincentiu Temirov, Fr. Marius Lazar, Fr. Mircea Airinei, and Fr. Ionuţ Voicu, parish priest.
On Sunday morning, the priests and a large number of believers welcomed HE Nicolae, in the bells of the bells and the hymn "Pre Stăpânul". After the Divine Liturgy, in the sermon addressed to the faithful, HE Nicolae spoke about the confession of faith in the Resurrection of the Lord, urging boldness and joy, according to the words of the Risen Christ addressed to the myrrhbearing women, for the completion of the construction of the wooden church. The parish priest thanked HE Nicolae, the delegation of the Romanian Consulate in New York, the General Consul Cătălin Dancu who, even though he could not participate, was actively involved in this project, the priests present, the parish members, the donors and the supporters of this project.
After the Divine Liturgy, the blessing of the corner stone service was officiated for the Maramures-style wooden church to be raised this year to the glory of God and the joy of the Romanians in New Jersey, USA, to mark the Centenary of Great Romania.
The brotherly agape organized by the sacrifice and the efforts of the Ladies Committee of our parish, in honor of all the participants at this very important moment in the life of our community, ended a day of great feast. The visit of our Archshepherd is always a joyous occasion. Now, when it was overlapping with the anniversary of the birth of His Eminence, the parish believers had the great joy of expressing good wishes and Happy Birthday. On leaving, His Eminence Nicolae blessed the faithful, urging them to complete the work they had begun, to support and help in raising the new holy place.
The Life-Giving Fountain parish took existence in July 2011 with the approval of the Eparchial Council of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas. For a period of time, the services were officiated in the Orthodox Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Rockaway, NJ (Carpatho-Russian Diocese of America). In May 2016, they signed the purchase of their own worship place in Long Valley, NJ. Since then, the community has continued to grow and fulfill the mission for Orthodox Romanians in the state of New Jersey.
