Romanian Church receives relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov

October 26, 2017 (mospat.ru) – His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania presided over the bringing of a shrine with a part of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov to the spiritual center of the Romanian Patriarchate.

After the meeting at Henri Coanda Airport, the Primates of the Russian and Romanian Orthodox Churches arrived on the Patriarchal Hill in Bucharest on which the Cathedral of Ss Constantine and Helen Equal-to-the-Apostles and the Patriarchal palace and residence are situated.

Accompanied by the ringing of bells, a solemn procession took place with the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov from the gates of the patriarchal cathedral to the Ss Constantine and Helen Square.

The shrine with the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov was placed before the altar and a thanksgiving was celebrated to St. Seraphim. Participating in the service were bishops and priests of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Numerous clergy, monastics and laity were praying in the square.

After the thanksgiving Patriarch Daniel, speaking on behalf of the clergy and laity of the Romanian Orthodox Church greeted Patriarch Kirill and all the participants in the celebrations. He said in particular that the Romanian Orthodox Church declared 2017 the Year of the Defenders of Orthodoxy during communism. ‘That is why we invited His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and other Primates of Orthodox Churches who endured the communist regime to honour in prayer the memory of the confessors and defenders of Orthodoxy during the communist persecution against the Church and to maintain closer cooperation and confession of the Orthodox faith in today’s society’.

In his response, Patriarch Kirill spoke about St. Seraphim’s call to seek the spirit of peace and about peace and love as the highest values for people ‘because these values stem not from man but from God, and since they stem from God they can be fully realized only in one community – the community of the One Holy Catholic Orthodox Church’.

During the evening, the relics were venerated by a great number of the faithful.