Episcopal visit to the Vancouver region

and in the province of British Columbia

Between December 10-14, 2022, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian was on a pastoral visit to St. Nicholas and St. Prophet Elijah Parish in Surrey/Vancouver and in several other places in the province of British Columbia.

The visit began on Saturday, December 10, with the Great Vespers service. The hierarch was greeted with the Gospel and the Holy Cross and a word of welcoming by Father Corneliu Dragomir - parish priest.

At the end of the service, the hierarch spoke about the Nativity Fast period:

“The period of this fast is the preparation for welcoming the Nativity of Jesus Christ in the cave of Bethlehem. We prepare ourselves through physical and spiritual effort to contemplate the mystery of Christ's incarnation. The time of the Lord's birth is the time when God reckons that the time of preparation for receiving His Son was completed and humanity was ready to receive the Only Begotten One. The prophets we celebrate in this period are those who, through their prophecies, prepared the people to receive and recognize Him.

The Church Fathers speak of two dimensions in regard of the experience that humanity would go through: the experience of the fundamental impotence to regain a sinless life by its own powers even when its representatives receive the blessing and help of God; the preparation made by God through the prophets and through all the righteous man of the Old Testament who would bring the people closer to the event of the incarnation of the Son of God is fulfilled."

On Sunday, December 11, the hierarch of Canada was welcome with bread and salt. Before serving the Divine Liturgy, HG Bishop Ioan Casian placed a bouquet of flowers at the statue of the national poet Mihai Eminescu in the courtyard of the Church.

In the sermon at the end of the Divine Liturgy the hierarch spoke about the meaing Gospel of the day:

"The Gospel of those called to dinner unveils the gift of freedom that God offers to people. It presents us at the same time the way in which man may respond to this call - positive or negative. There are three different cases of response but all three refuse the gift of communion. The first of the guests answers the call with a refusal since he has taken a piece of land and goes to see it. The second responds in the same way with a refusal because he has bought oxen and goes to try them. And the third says he got married and he will not be able to honor the invitation. All three refuse the host's hospitality. On hearing the refusal of the three, the master sends the servant to invite the poor, the blind, the lame and the infirm to fill the house and the table. From the Gospel we understand that needy people respond promptly, faster and are more open to the call to communion with God than the people who has a life full of 'material accomplishments’ and wealth.

St. Cyril of Alexandria speaks of the meaning of the parable:

"The man who invites to dinner is God the Father. The servant sent to call the guests is Christ who emptied Himself by becoming incarnate from the Virgin Mary and coming among us. The gifts prepared in Christ for us are forgiveness of sins, cleansing from all fornication, communion with the Holy Spirit, adoption as His sons, the kingdom of heaven. Christ becomes flesh to cleanse our nature of sin and to forgive our original sin. The work of the priesthood of the Church of forgiveness of sins is the direct participation in the work of the priesthood of Christ who forgave the sins of the world. The mystery of Confession offered by the bishop or priest is the mystery of the priesthood of Christ which is activated in the work of the minister. Christ also brings us the gift of the Holy Spirit because of the incarnation. In the Mystery of Anoint with the Holy Chrism, the newly baptized receives the grace of the Holy Spirit who makes him partaker of the mystery of the eternal life and activates in him the grace received at Baptism. Through the incarnation, Christ restores our nature and man begins to regain his natural initial stature - that is, the sonship of God. He does it by growing from the image to the likeness of God which reflected in our humanity means the relationship of mutual and altruistic love of people to each other. In this way, man becomes the face of the Holy Trinity through love manifested in the real relationship, in concrete life. In the Divine Liturgy we participate in the eternal life because in a mysterious way the heaven opens and the gifts we bring to God - bread and wine - are transformed into the Body and Blood of the Risen Lord Christ who is offered to us for eternal life. At the Divine Liturgy eternity descends among us and upon us. We enter God's time where we become contemporaries with all the generations that have believed Him."

"St. Ambrose of Milan speaks that both the good and the bad receive the invitation to dinner; and this happens so that the good may be strengthened in goodness and the wicked may hear the call of correction."

At the end of his sermon, HG Bishop Ioan Casian awarded the Pectoral Cross to Rev. Fr. Corneliu Dragomir for all the activity carried out so far and for the moment of his 60th birthday (2020) which could not be attended in person due to restrictions related to the pandemic. Fr. Dragomir thanked the hierarch and the faithful for participation in the celebration. Mr. Ovidiu Grecea – Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General in Vancouver was present at the event.

The day continued with the fraternal agape after which at 4:00 pm the service of the Holy Anointing was performed. Together with the hierarch and the parish priest, Fr. Nicu Liuță and Fr. Nicolae Lăpuște from the other two Romanian parishes in the Vancouver area participated.

On Monday, December 12, on the feast of Saint Spyridon, the Surrey/Vancouver community again attended the hierarchical Divine Liturgy.

In the sermon at the end of the service, the hierarch spoke about the life of St. Spyridon and about the saint as an applied example of holiness:

"St. Spyridon for his exemplary and simple life was elected hierarch of the Trimitunda. The news of his sanctity spread throughout the Roman Empire, and he was called to heal the emperor himself. He also amazes the participants of the First Ecumenical Council by the way he demonstrates through the miracle of the brick made of earth, fire, and water the way in which the Holy Trinity exists - threefold in Persons but in one essence.

The saint is the exemplification or embodiment of God's holiness by participation, in a specific context, in a culture and an age different in time, to the sanctifying work of God."

In the afternoon of the same day, the bishop, Fr. Nicu Liuță together with the presbytera, Mr. Consul General Grecea and Grecu family visited the place that was bought this year with the desire to lay foundation for a monastery and a retreat center with possible facilities and medical equipment for sick people. The service of blessing the place and the foundation stone was held. The hierarch then continued with a short visit to Kelowna.

On Tuesday evening, HG Bishop Ioan Casian met at the church with the members of the choir of St. Nicholas and St. Prophet Elijah parish and several other believers. The bishop spoke about the significance of Nativity and answered some questions related to the meaning of the mission and the local involvement of parishes, clergy and believers in its dynamization and the role of young people in parishes. The evening ended with a musical preview of the Christmas concert of the parish choir conducted by Mr. Radu Stana.