Blessing, Communion, and Celebration

in the Romanian Orthodox Communities of Windsor

28–30 November 2025

Between 28–30 November 2025, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian made a pastoral visit to Windsor, Ontario.

On the evening of Friday, November 28, starting at 6:00 pm, the hierarch officiated the Vigil Service in the historic Cathedral dedicated to St. George the Great Martyr and St. Andrei Şaguna, Metropolitan of Transylvania. The hierarch was surrounded by a group of priests and monastics from the Eparchy and from other jurisdictions. On this occasion, the Cathedral offered for veneration the holy relics of St. Nicholas, St. Nektarios, a fragment of the wood of the Holy Cross, the relics of the Venerable Martyr Saints of Saint Sabbas Monastery, the relics of St. Emilian, as well as those of St. Andrei Şaguna.

On Saturday, November 29, the hierarch celebrated the Vespers service at the Descent of the Holy Spirit Parish in Windsor, where, at the end of the service, he performed the blessing of the place of worship with holy water following the renovation works carried out recently.

On Sunday, November 30, the Cathedral community experienced a day of great joy as they celebrated St. Andrei Şaguna, the second patron saint of the church. In the morning, the hierarch was welcomed with bread and salt, according to tradition, by young people dressed in Romanian folk costumes.

The hierarchical Divine Liturgy brought together many faithful from the entire Windsor–Essex region, with Protos. Corneliu Andrașco, the parish priest, concelebrating with the His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian.

In the homily delivered at the end of the Divine Liturgy, the hierarch first spoke about the two saints celebrated on this Sunday, both closely connected to Romanian land, faith, and Orthodox tradition: St. Andrew the Apostle, known as the Apostle of the Romanians, and the great 19th-century hierarch of Transylvania, St. Andrei Şaguna, one of the patrons of this parish.

Speaking about the great Romanian hierarch, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian recalled that he “restored the status and dignity of the Romanian Metropolitanate of Transylvania, at a time when, until 1918, Transylvania was under Austro-Hungarian rule and the Romanians were largely deprived of many rights. Thus, St. Andrei Şaguna tirelessly fought in Vienna, in Budapest, and before all authorities for the rights of Romanians (…) At the same time, the saint was also a remarkable steward of the Church: he taught theology, reorganized the metropolitan administration, founded over 800 Romanian (elementary) schools next to churches - schools where both Orthodox faith and the Romanian language were taught - and established two high schools and a vocational commercial school.”

Referring to the example of St. Andrei Şaguna, the hierarch concluded that “the identity of a people is sustained not only by faith but also by the institutions that support and transmit it. This is a great lesson for us Christians today. For although prayer and participation in liturgical life remain essential, we also have the duty to build other things - institutions, movements, initiatives - that will carry forward the mission of the Church and offer a Christian vision as an alternative to an increasingly secular world. This is the invitation that St. Andrei Şaguna extends to us across time.”

The Bishop of Canada then highlighted several important points of the Epistle read during the Divine Liturgy: “Although St. Paul’s Epistle was addressed to the faithful in Colossae, his words transcend time and speak to us as well. St. Paul urges us to clothe ourselves in the virtues that Christ asks of us, for these are the image of life in the Kingdom of Heaven and make us like God. He also reminds us that Christ is the source of all virtues and that He Himself embodied and manifested them through His miracles, healings, resurrections, and through all the goodness He poured out during His three and a half years of ministry. Finally, the Apostle adds the two central virtues: love, which is the bond of perfection because God is love and we cannot become like Him without living Christian love; and peace and gratitude toward God, which set our lives in their natural order. These make us one body as the Church, even though we are many. We see this mystery in the Holy Trinity, one in essence but in three Persons. Each of us has a vocation in the Church, and God expects us to fulfill this calling for the good of all.”

The final exhortation of this reading: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you” explains why we participate in the services of the Church: “so that our worldly identity, marked by sin, may increasingly become a Christian identity, an image and likeness of God,” said the hierarch.

In the last part of his message, the Romanian hierarch spoke about the Gospel reading, saying that the virtue the rich young man lacked “is essential, because it marks the break between the fallen world and the Kingdom of God: ‘Sell all that you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow Me.’ In other words: leave behind everything you have accumulated, for all things are gifts from God, and place your entire hope in Christ, the only Giver of eternal life. The young man walks away saddened, and those present ask, ‘Then who can be saved?’ And Christ teaches them the essential lesson: ‘The things that are impossible for men are possible for God.’ In other words, nothing accomplished solely by our own strength can lead us into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only by the power and grace of God.”

At the end, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian offered distinctions in the form of medals and certificates to members of the Armonia Choir, to the Ladies’ Committee, and to other benefactors of the parish, as a sign of gratitude for their dedication and involvement.

The liturgical moment was followed by an anniversary program presented by the Cathedral’s Armonia Choir, which this year celebrated 75 years of uninterrupted activity. The personality of Archimandrite Felix Dubneac, the founder of the choir, was commemorated, as well as the beauty and perseverance of ministry through music over the decades.

The celebration concluded in the Cathedral’s social hall, where all present enjoyed a traditional meal in a warm atmosphere filled with fellowship.

(notes by Protos. Corneliu Andrasco)