Pastoral Letter of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, on the first Sunday of the Lent of the Nativity of the Lord 2021

On the importance of the Homage Year

of the Pastoral Care for Romanians Living Abroad and of the Commemorative Year of Those Fallen Asleep in the lord; the Liturgical and Cultural Value of Cemeteries in the Romanian Patriarchate

 TO THE PIOUS MONASTICS, THE MOST REVEREND CLERGY AND TO THE BELOVED FAITHFUL OF THE ROMANIAN PATRIARCHATE,

Grace, joy, and peace from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and from us paternal blessings!

Most Reverend Fathers, Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

The year 2021 was declared by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church “The Homage Year of the Pastoral Care for the Romanians Living Abroad” and “The Commemorative

Year of Those Fallen Asleep in the Lord; the Liturgical and Cultural Value of Cemeteries”, in the Romanian Patriarchate. The two themes mentioned, homage and commemorative, highlight two coordinates essential, with priority in the pastoral-missionary activity of our Church. Thus, the Romanian Orthodox Church is not indifferent to the unprecedented extent that the phenomenon of Romanian migration to other countries in recent years. In response to this phenomenon, our Church, through her hierarchs, priests and deacons, is currently carrying out a sustained pastoral activity outside the borders of Romania. The Church blesses and helps spiritually Orthodox Romanians everywhere, whom she considers her faithful sons and daughters and integral part of the Romanian Orthodox communion.

            On the other hand, the commemoration in the Church of those fallen asleep in the Lord is an act of Orthodox faith and confession of love for others. The commemoration of the deceased and the remembrance of heroes contribute to the development of a culture of gratitude and intergenerational communion. Their eternal remembrance from generation to generation means their eternal commemoration from ancestry to ancestry.

 Dear Christian faithful,

 In the Books of the Old Testament we find testimonies that God, the Creator and the Custodian of all creation, manifests a special care for those outside their native country and people: “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23: 9), and elsewhere it is remembered: “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34). God Himself led and strengthened the people of Israel on their long journey to the Promised Land, leading them “through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna” (Deuteronomy 8:15-16).

 In the New Testament, merciful love for strangers has become the norm of the Christian life since the time of the apostles: “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4: 9). In the Gospel of Matthew, in chapter 25, it is shown that love of neighbor is the ultimate criterion of universal judgment, more precisely the essential criterion of blessing and inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven, because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Righteous Judge, He says, “I was a stranger, and you took Me in” (Matthew 25:35).

 In the context of the social, economic and political transformations that have taken place in the last century, the number of Romanian Christians living abroad has increased. Faced with this reality, the pastoral care of the Romanian Orthodox Church towards Romanians abroad was materialized through the establishment of dioceses, which organized numerous parishes and monasteries, in order to meet the spiritual needs of the Romanian Orthodox believers in the historical Romanian communities: the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, but also in the diaspora: Central and Northern Europe, Western and Southern Europe, the two Americas, Australia and New Zealand. In situations where the pastoral-missionary peculiarities did not allow the establishment of new dioceses, new Romanian Orthodox representations and communities were organized, such as those in the Holy Land, Mount Athos, the Middle East, Cyprus, Turkey, South Africa, Japan etc.

 Currently, because of sustained pastoral efforts, outside the current borders of Romania, the Romanian Orthodox Church has four archdioceses and nine dioceses. In these eparchies there are 1,337 parishes and missions, as well as 64 monastic communities, served by 1,245 Romanian clerics. Through the Romanian Orthodox hierarchs and clergy abroad, the Romanian Orthodox Church strives to build, buy or rent places of worship where there are Romanian communities, thus offering the possibility for every Romanian Orthodox Christian to participate in the holy services in Romanian and to keep in touch with the Mother Church. In the Romanian Orthodox churches abroad, Romanians feel the joy of rediscovering and living the ancestral faith, participate in the liturgical life, alleviate their longing for their loved ones and birthplaces, reconfirm their deep identity. Through worship, but also through cultural events and socialphilanthropic actions organized by Romanian parishes abroad, the perennial spiritual values of Orthodoxy and the Romanian people are promoted, Romanian traditions are transmitted, and the Romanian language is cultivated. In this way, the Romanian Orthodox cultural, ethnic and ecclesiastical identity is preserved, which ensures social integration in the host countries without cultural assimilation and without denationalization. That is why, constantly, the Romanian Patriarchate helps financially, as far as possible, these Romanian communities, realizing, at the same time, necessary steps in addition to the competent state institutions, to support Romanians everywhere.

 As a sign of permanent pastoral concern for Romanians permanently or temporarily settled abroad, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided that the first Sunday after the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God be dedicated to Romanian migrants. Therefore, both the Sunday of Romanian Migrants and the Day of Romanians Living Abroad, established by Law no. 101/2015 and celebrated on the last Sunday of May, are days with a deep spiritual significance, of reaffirming the traditions and values of the faith and culture of the Romanian people.

 Beloved faithful,

 The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church also declared 2021 a Commemorative Year for those fallen asleep in the Lord to highlight and promote the liturgical and cultural value of cemeteries. From the point of view of our spiritual identity, the cemetery is the place where the graves of those fallen asleep in the Lord are located, waiting for “the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come”, as stated in the Orthodox Creed. Therefore, the cemetery is also a symbol of commemoration and communion between generations.

 To honor the memory of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord, the Orthodox Church maintains a wide range of religious services and commemorations (memorials) that include prayers and requests for the forgiveness of sins, rest, and the salvation of their souls.

 In particular, the commemoration of heroes of all times and all places, as well as the prayers for the dead in general, are manifestations of steadfastness in faith, continuity and unity in thought and feelings over generations. The commemoration of heroes is a sign of our unforgettable and precious appreciation for their sacrifice and the hope of their eternal communion with Christ the Lord, in the hope of the Resurrection and eternal life.

 The Romanian Orthodox cemeteries, some inscribed in the national cultural heritage of Romania, others including in their perimeter valuable funerary artistic monuments dedicated to national personalities, highlight an essential spiritual dimension: the gratitude shown to predecessors over time, as well as the ability to commemorate communion of a faithful people with past generations.

 The cemetery has a deep liturgical and cultural meaning in our Romanian Orthodox Christian tradition. The care of the sacred space in which the bodies of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord are buried is a duty and a responsibility of Christians to keep the flame burning of the passing from generation to generation or from ancestry to ancestry of the dead. Honoring the cemeteries is a true culture of the Romanian soul that believes, feels and confesses that love springing from faith is stronger than death. The multitude of diptychs and commemorations for those who have died or fallen asleep in the Lord and for the heroes of the nation is a powerful factor in cultivating the consciousness of our national identity, unity and continuity. The history of the Romanian Orthodox Church bears witness over the centuries to the care she had for the memory of her forefathers. At every Holy and Divine Liturgy are mentioned the hierarchs of the Church, the founders, the merciful and the benefactors of the holy places, the heroes, the soldiers and the Romanian fighters from all times and places who sacrificed themselves on the battlefields, in camps and prisons, for the defense of the ancestral homeland and Orthodox faith, for the unification of the nation, for the freedom, unity and dignity of the Romanian people, as well as the commemoration of all those fallen asleep in Christ, the Conqueror of Death.

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,

 With the help of the Merciful God, we are at the beginning of the Lent of the Nativity, also called Christmas Lent. This period is, first, a preparation, a sanctification of our soul and body, through Confession and Communion, but also through acts of almsgiving. Acts of Christian almsgiving, seen as the fruit of “working faith by love” (Galatians 5: 6), strengthen brotherly communion.

 This year, we were called to cultivate more fraternal communion with Romanians around Romania's borders and in the Romanian diaspora. In particular, we thank the clergy of the Romanian Orthodox Holy Altar living abroad for their activity and fidelity to the Romanian people, for the activity of preserving and promoting the Orthodox Christian faith, the Romanian spiritual and cultural values.

 At the same time, we urge Romanians living in different parts of the world to honor the memory and graves of those who have passed on to eternal life, because only prayer and gratitude maintain a living relationship between souls, a spiritual communion stronger than the physical death of the body.

 We are going through an extremely difficult time in terms of health and the value of life, when many people are affected by the new epidemic, which has spread globally. During this period, there is a great need for prayer and fraternal help, closeness to God and practical solidarity between people.

 Therefore, this year too, we address the priests and the faithful believers of our Holy Church with the fatherly exhortation to organize, in parishes, monasteries, archdioceses and diocesan centers, food, clothing and medicine collections. They will be distributed as a matter of priority within the community, to those suffering and in need, to disadvantaged families, with many children, to the elderly and to single people, without children or relatives, especially to those living in rural areas.

 With the confidence that you will show Christian generosity this year as well and respond lovingly to our fatherly calling in this holy work of charity and help, we thank you for the generosity shown in previous years and we remind you of the words of Jesus Christ: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

 We pray to the Most Merciful God to bless all Romanians, in the country and abroad, giving them health and salvation, protecting them from all evil and strengthening them in all good things, for the joy of our Church and of the Romanian people everywhere, and to put those asleep in the Lord in the company of the righteous and to give them rest in the light and love of the Most Holy Trinity.

 With much appreciation, we embrace you with paternal love and share with you the apostolic blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen!” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

† D a n i el

Archbishop of Bucharest,

Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrogea,

Locum Tenens of the throne of Caesarea of Cappadocia and Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church