On November 3-4, the Romanian Parish of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Windsor, Ontario, celebrated its 85th anniversary. On this occasion, His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, was present in the middle of the old Romanian community in the city and participated in the festive events organized by the members of the parish.

The feast started Saturday, November 3rd, in the afternoon when the Vesper was celebrated by the His Grace Ioan Casian surrounded by a group of priests. The believers present in big number enjoyed spiritually the presence of the Holy Relics of St. Constatin Brâncoveanu, St. Gregory the Teacher, St. Hierarch Andrei Saguna, the Metropolitan of Transylvania, and St. Irodion of Lainici, which were brought for veneration by His Grace Ioan Casian. The festive evening ended in the social hall of the parish with a short photos documentary about the history of the community - the early moments of the parish, the priests who have served the parish as well as the founding members of the parish and other members until today.

On Sunday, November 4th, His Grace Ioan Casian celebrated the Divine Liturgy with Fr. Viorel Țencaliuc, the Dean for Central Canada and the priests of the two Romanian parishes in the city - Fr. Simion J. Cătãu, Fr. Nicolae Codrea and Fr. Constatin Bălãucă. Subsequently, a Memorial Service was performed for the founding members of the parish, as well as for all the members trespassed along the time, who made possible the uninterrupted activity of the parish for 85 years.

In his sermon, the hierarch said:

The text of the Gospel of today's Sunday about the rich man and the poor Lazarus unveils many aspects of Christian life here on earth. One of them is that the deeds performed and the time spent here in our short earthly life have eternal significance. Through the deeds and the way in which one behave during his lifetime man acquires eternal life. A second aspect is the fact that human person was not created by God for a horizontal, secular life; human life has a transcendent dimension that goes beyond the obvious immanent dimension that the contemporary society insists on. The Church through the ministry, through the Holy Mysteries, and especially through the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Spirit, makes us feeling the presence of God and a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven here on the earth mysteriously but really.

The priest through his pastoral mission is the one who has the duty to remind to the faithful these saving truths. Through the prophetic or teaching mission, he announces the time of salvation in and through the death and resurrection of Christ, through the priestly or sacrificial mission he sanctifies the believers, and through the royal or pastoral mission he exercises his responsibility as the guide of the parish life in all its aspects according to the purpose and vocation of the Church which is the salvation of the faithful.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Grace Ioan Casian installed the new parish priest Fr. Nicolae Codrea, who will continue the work of more than 30 years of the previous priest Fr. Simion J. Cătău. The hierarch handed to the new parish priest Fr. Nicolae Codrea the three symbols of the priestly ministry in the parish: the Gospel, the Cross and the key of the Church. He also gave an Icon of Saint Nicholas, the spiritual protector, to strengthen the new parish priest in the pastoral-missionary work of the historic Windsor church.

In his speech, Fr. Nicolae Codrea thanked the hierarch for his presence in the middle of the little Windsor community, as well as to all those who participated in the good conduct of the anniversary events. He also thanked Fr. Simion J. Cătău for his fruitful activity and assured him that he would continue his beautiful pastoral activity of three decades among the Romanians away from home.

On this occasion, His Grace Ioan Casian presented to the Romanian community in Windsor Fr. Constantin Bălăucă, recently arrived from Romania to serve the Cathedral of the Great Martyr George and Saint Hierarch Andrei Saguna in Windsor, Ontario.

The day ended with a fraternal agape in a festive atmosphere where all those present - children, young people and the elderly - enjoyed special moments spent with their loved ones.