Feast of Pentecost

at the Episcopal Cathedral at Saint-Hubert

On Sunday, June 4, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian was present at the Divine Liturgy at the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint-Hubert.

The hierarch was greeted to the sound of bells, with the Gospel and the Holy Cross at the entrance by the Protos. Maxim Morariu, Fr. Mircea Panciuk archpriest and Fr. Adrian Manea.

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the festive atmosphere of Pentecost and then the Vespers of the kneeling and the consecration of the linden branches has been made.

"Today's celebration, together with the period of the after-feast, concludes a great period of the cycle of the church year, namely the period of Pentecost - said the hierarch. Today's Gospel passage describes the moment when the Holy Spirit descends on the community of the apostles and the Church is invested with the Holy Spirit, thus forming the first community, the first Church that continues its pilgrimage on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven to this day."

Speaking about the significance of what happened on Pentecost, the hierarch said: "The pericope presents the apostles and those who came to the celebration in very large numbers, because it was a great celebration in the tradition of the Old Testament. Those present are in for a great surprise: from the sky, without any news, there was a blowing of a wind that comes quickly, with a great roar and the whole house was filled and the Holy Spirit appeared to them in the form of tongues like fire, which stood above the head of each of them.

Through this manifestation we see, we understand that the One who comes is the Holy Spirit who is a fire, an uproar that spiritually ignites everything around Him. When we are touched by the work of the Holy Spirit, everything in us - heart, mind, body, our whole human work - is ignited and filled with the desire to gain the Kingdom of Heaven.

The seen form of the tongues as of fire signifies that this breath is not just any breath, but is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the moment of investing the disciples with the Holy Spirit, their ordination, the foundation of the communion, a filling of the Church with the Holy Spirit and a transformation of the community of those who believed in Christ into a true Church, in a spiritual work that has as its center the presence of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.

But the wonder doesn't end there. The astonishment of those present, who were from all the nations under heaven, was even greater now when all those filled by the Holy Spirit began to speak in other languages, so that everyone understood the words that the apostles announced in each other's language. This miracle shows the universality of the proclamation of the Gospel. The message of salvation is intended for everyone, for all of humanity."

Concluding, the hierarch said: "The inspired work of the Church, the missionary example par excellence is fulfilled at the Descent of the Holy Spirit, when the Apostles, as the body of the visible Church, speak about the wonderful deeds of God in the history of salvation and in our life as humanity, about the salvation in Christ. This is the essence of the message it conveys; this is the mission that the Church receives at the Descent of the Holy Spirit. This is what we live today as the Church, speaking over so many centuries of God's presence and saving work."

At the end, the hierarch blessed those present, and the other member of the clergy distributed linden branches to the faithful.

(notes by Nun Ana)