Patriarch Daniel: On day of Baptism of Jesus it's good to think of Romanian people's baptism also

The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR), Daniel, urged, on Thursday, Orthodox believers present on the Metropolitan Hill at the Great Blessing of the Waters service to think on this day of the baptism of the Romanian people, Agerpres reports.

"It's good to think on this day also of the baptism of the Romanian people, because we were not baptized at the order of a popular leader - knyaz or king - as happened with our neighbors, but we were baptized when we were forming as a new people; a slow and profound baptism, to withstand against all the migratory peoples that came later. That is why we believe that it's good to think each year on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord also of the baptism of the Romanian people, which started with the preaching of the gospel and the conversions made by Holy Apostle Andrew, who is painted here, on the frontispiece of the Patriarchal Palace," said the Patriarch.

His Beatitude Daniel explained that the water blessed on the eve of the Baptism of the Lord and on the day of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, also called 'Agheasma mare' [e.n. - holy water blessed on the eve or during the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in the Greater Blessing of the Waters], has a host of spiritual gifts, being "blessed in a richer service and more intense prayer," unlike 'Agheasma mica' [e.n. - holy water blessed during lesser ceremonies in the Lesser Blessing of the Waters].

The Patriarch officiated the Great Blessing of the waters together with the patriarchal vicar bishop Varlaam Ploiesteanul. The waters were blessed in a unique silver vessel, on the veranda of the Patriarchal Residence.

The Patriarch then advanced through the numerous believers present at the service on the Metropolitan Hill, blessing for several minutes around the Patriarchal Cathedral and then returning to the veranda of his residence.

Orthodox and Greek-Catholic believers are celebrating, on Thursday, the Baptism of the Lord, liturgical events being organized with observance of the health norms imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Baptism of the Lord marks the final day in the cycle of winter holidays, dedicated to the purifying of the environment, especially through the Blessing of the Waters.

The celebration recalls the Baptism of the Lord in the waters of Jordan at the age of 30. According to tradition, the Baptism of the Lord is also the occasion for the service of the Great Blessing of the Waters, which has the symbolic significance of cosmic regeneration.

The celebration of the Baptism of the Lord precedes the day on which the Orthodox Church celebrates the Synaxis of the Forerunner honoring St. John the Baptist (known in some traditions also as John the Forerunner of God).

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