On July 27th, 2019, the parishioners of Saint Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church in Queens, NY rejoiced at the presence of His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, who celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with the parish priest, Fr. Marius Dumitrescu.
His Grace has served as the parish priest of Saint Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church between 2003-2006, during which he carried out numerous pastoral, missionary, educational and cultural activities. The presence of His Grace in the midst of the Romanian Orthodox community of New York after three years from his last pastoral visit represented an opportunity for joy both for the members of the community as well as for His Grace.
Talking about the Gospel reading of the day, His Grace Bishop Ioan Cassian emphasized in his homily that the most important virtue for Christians is love, which helps building bridges between persons, destroying the abyss that appears when they do not encounter one another in the bond of love.
“We joyfully meet once again after three years from when I last served in this parish as a vicar bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the Americas, finding myself at this present time in Canada, in the midst of the Romanian Orthodox faithful which live there. Even though the great distance does not allow us to physically meet more often, we are still able to encounter one another in prayer, and this is the most important thing, since we live in a world in which the values and models which are being promoted are not always natural and faithful to the Christian faith and culture. This is why we are required to be not only ‘Sunday parishioners,’ but to be active Christians involved in the society, where we are to confess our biblical and human values.”
The responses during the service where sang by the parish’s choir. At the end of the Holy Liturgy, His Grace celebrated a memorial service for the founders and for the benefactors of the Church who fell asleep in the Lord.
