His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae served the Divine Liturgy on Sunday the 2nd of December 2018, at the Holy Trinity Metropolitan Cathedral in Sibiu at the end of his pilgrimage in Romania for the consecration of the National Cathedral, the celebration of St. Andrew in Bucharest and the Centennial celebration of Greater Romania at Alba Iulia.
It was Eminence Nicolae’s first service in the Cathedral of Sibiu as hierarch, after the years of his studies at The Andrei Saguna Faculty of Theology from 1988 to 1992. His Eminence Nicolae served with His Grace Ilarion Făgărasanu, Vicar Bishop of the Sibiu Archdiocese, former and current teachers, former colleagues who became professors at the famous Faculty in Sibiu, and with the priests and deacons of the Cathedral. The responses during the Divine Liturgy were chanted by the Cathedral’s choir and the Youth Organization of Sibiu (OTS) sang many traditional Christmas carols.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae interpreted the gospel lesson for the 31st Sunday after Pentecost: "The blind man from Jericho was lacking physical vision but had acquired spiritual vision through which he recognized and witnessed Christ as the Messiah, the expected Savior of the Jewish people. As a consequence of his faith he received the healing of his blindness, but also the salvation of his soul. His witness followed by his healing was fulfilled through following Christ."
His Eminence Nicolae then spoke about the historical events that we had experienced through the consecration of the National Cathedral, the Cathedral’s feast day of St. Andrew's, and the celebration of Greater Romania’s Centennial in Alba Iulia on December 1st. His Eminence Nicolae shared with the faithful that were present the joy and emotion of participating in these events. He then spoke about the work of God for the Romanian people fulfilled through the Act of Unification in 1918, about the vision and courage of the ones that became the instruments of this work a hundred years ago. Their inheritance should be preserved and granted to our descendants. His Eminence Nicolae recalled that this mission is also being fulfilled in America through the work of the Romanians who, from the beginning of the 20th century up to recent years, have ordered their lives and sought salvation on the American continent.
In conclusion, His Eminence Nicolae thanked His Eminence Metropolitan Laurentiu for the blessing and all those present for serving together.
