Pentecost and mystery of the Holy Trinity celebrated

at St. George and St. Epictet and Astion Cathedral

from Saint-Hubert

On Sunday, June 8 and Monday, June 9, the Orthodox community in Saint-Hubert participated in the celebration of two of the most profound and luminous feast day of the Orthodox faith: the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) and the feast of the Holy Trinity.

In the two days, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian performed the Holy Liturgy, having alternatively by his side Fr Mircea Panciuk archpriest emeritus, Protos. Maxim Morariu - ecclesiarch, Fr Adrian Manea and Deacons Valentin Boțu and Marius Constantin Popa.

The answers at strana were given by Mădălina Enache and the group of young people of the cathedral.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit, celebrated 50 days after the resurrection, is the moment of establishing the Church. The historical event recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (ch. 2) becomes is present in each Divine Liturgy of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit, the "Lord, the Giver of Life", descends mysteriously into the hearts of the believers, as He has come down over the apostles in the form of tongue like the fire.

After the Divine Liturgy followed the special Vespers of Pentecost, during which the seven kneeling prayers were recited. They confess about the descent of grace over all the creature and restoration of the whole creation through the Holy Spirit.

In the homily at the end of the service, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian said: “One of the liturgical hymns of the feast says: <All things are given by the Holy Spirit: inspires prophetic words, sanctifies the priests, to the ignorant teaches wisdom, the fishermen are made theologians. He fulfills all the commandments of Church. You who are of one being and one throne with the Father and the Son, Comforter, glory to You!> We understand from here that all happens in the Church through the work of the Holy Spirit.

The experience of the Holy Apostles regarding the presence of the Holy Spirit felt in a sensible way - a breath of wind that quickly filled the house. Its visible result was the fact that everyone heard the apostles speaking in tongues after the gift was received. They were all talking about the wonderful deeds of God. We understand from here that God when he gives His gift, this one comes with the understanding and the perspective of salvation for those who hear it. The message of the apostles is heard in the language of every nation present at Pentecost in Jerusalem and it has as main purpose the proclamation of the saving work of Christ.

All the order of the Church is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit. This means that the Church is of Christ. The clergy and believers are servants of God and participants in the work of grace, but they are not the authors of it. The Church is of God and not of people.”

Next, the Romanian hierarch of Canada spoke about the permanent work of the Holy Spirit in the Church: “Pentecost, that is, the descent and work of the Holy Spirit, has been present in the world since the beginning. The world and man cannot exist and live without the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. But what is specific to the celebration of Pentecost as we experience it today? Today's Pentecost came in a new form as the fruit of Christ's work of salvation, crowned by the Sacrifice and Resurrection so that the entire creation could share in it. Pentecost is the foundation of the Church, it is the union of heaven and earth. St. Irenaeus of Lyons says that where the Church is, there is also the Holy Spirit, and where the Holy Spirit is, there is the Church and all grace.”

The Monday after Pentecost is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. This feast reveals that the life of the Church is a Trinitarian life in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit lived in prayer, communion, and love.

In his homily, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian emphasized that the Holy Trinity is a living reality, the supreme model of unity in diversity and of the perfect love as St. St. Dumitru Staniloae says. Each parish community is called to become a living icon of the Trinity: unity in the Spirit, communion in Christ and obedience to the Father.

"Christ teaches us that love means keeping the word of the person you love and respect. In the Church it is Christ, it is the Holy Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - who have worked our salvation. The world or the work of evil can only be overcome by faith in God.

The feast of the Holy Trinity is an invitation to communion whose perfect image is the communion of the Holy Trinity. The feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and the one of the Holy Trinity are not only liturgical events, but calls to holiness, invitations to become bearers of the Spirit in the world. "

The two feast days have fulfilled this period of joy and light lived by the Church after the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.