Celebrating 20 years since foundation of the Metropolitan Cathedral
St. Constantine and Helen - Chicago
The days of May 19-21, 2023 were moments of celebration for the Metropolitan Cathedral of Chicago on the 20th anniversary of its existence.
On Friday, May 19, His Eminence Nicolae, the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas, had as guests at the Tedeum Service His Eminence Peter - Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest USA and His Eminence Timothy - Greek Metropolitan of Chicago.
On Saturday, May 20, at 6:00 pm, the Vespers service took place. They were present HEm Metropolitan Nicolae, HG Bishop Ioan Casian (Diocese of Canada), Archim. Melchisedec Velnic (abbot - Putna monastery), Protos. Ieremia (Abbot - St. Demetrius Monastery, Middletown, NY), Protos. Andrei (abbot - Dormition of the Mother of God monastery, Portugal) together with the priests who have contributed over time to the good running of the cathedral - Hieromonk Gavriil, Rev. Fr. David Hudson, Hieromonk Andrei, Fr. Vasile Moldovan, Fr. Nicolae Cărbune together with other priest from the Romanian delegation.
On Sunday, May 21, the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was held during which the young theologian Alexandru Lazar was ordained a deacon.
"In today's text of the Gospel from St. John, we are confronted with the miracle of the healing of a man blind from birth - said HG Bishop Ioan Casian in his homily. In the text we are dealing with the healing of both physical and spiritual vision. It is a healing that occurs in stages. First is the healing of the blind man's carnal eyes by anointing with clay and washing in the waters of Siloam. To the question of those who knew him about the way in which he was healed, the blind man answers by talking about the man Jesus who did this. Not long after the investigation of the elders of the temple, the religious authorities, the blind man recognizes Jesus as a prophet. And finally, after he is cast out, he acquires the true knowledge of who Jesus is – that is the Son of God - at His invitation and call.
The capacity or vocation of the Old Testament was to lead man to the encounter with Christ the Son of God from which the true knowledge of God will spring. This is how we can say that the transition from looking at the world and reality to its true contemplation and understating involves the encounter with God. We see this also in the case of St. Paul. Until he met Christ on the road to Damascus, he looked at the world through the eyes of the Old Testament without really seeing it as it really is. Only after the experience of that meeting with the Son of God, St. Paul begins to see the world and its connection with God in its authentic way related to Christ and the history of salvation prepared by God. The same thing happens to St. Constantine the Great. His mother, St. Helen certainly contributed to his Christian education, but a radical turning point can be seen in his life after seeing the sign in the sky - in hoc signo vinces / through this sign you will overcome - in the high noon before the battle with Maxentius and by the appearance during his sleep of Christ who tells him that the sign XP (Christ) will be the protector of his army.
In all three cases we see that for the acquisition of contemplation, of vision, that is, that understanding of what is happening in the world, in life, in the events that surround us, we need that encounter with God in the particular way of each one that makes the deep sense of consciousness to wake up and begin to see the active presence of God's providence in the world.
That is why these examples must be our guidance in the way we live our lives in the Church and in the world, not blinded by the immediacy of the opaque world, separated from God, but illuminated by the light of divine grace and looking at the permanent transparency of God's work in the world. In this way we approach the face of the first Adam who lived in the presence of God and spoke to Him.
As a result of meeting and seeing God, we will become servants of God and witnesses of His resurrection, apostles of salvation in Christ. The Church is the place that offers us the possibility of meeting God through the words of the Holy Scriptures, in the Holy Mysteries, but especially in the Divine Liturgy. The church is the place, the space, and the time, which are consecrated entirely to God. It reminds us of God's eternal kingdom and keeps us on the way to it."
At the end of the Divine Liturgy HEm Metropolitan Nicolae spoke about the life of St. Constantine and Helen and their contribution to the history of Christianity. Then Archim. Melchisedec Velnic, the abbot of the Putna monastery spoke about the life of St. Iacob of Putna whose parts from the holy relics were brought for worship and which will be given to the Monastery St. Dumitru in Middletown. HEm Metropolitan Nicolae awarded the Order of St. Constantin and Elena to several participants in the event. The Metropolitan Cathedral and Metropolitan Nicolae also received several gifts. The day ended with a festive fraternal agape, with a show prepared by the Sunday school children and with the distribution of several honorary distinctions to those who over time have contributed to the well-being of the Metropolitan Cathedral.
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