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Prayer
and hope were the main topics on which Patriarch Daniel’s sermon
focused on Bright Friday when the Orthodox Church marks the feast day of
the Life-Giving Spring of the Theotokos.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said that especially now when the
world experiences a sad and difficult period due to the coronavirus
pandemic, we need ‘stronger faith, healing, help to restore our health
or to protect us from sickness.’
“Let us, therefore, pray to the Saviour Jesus Christ, the healer of
our souls and bodies, and to the Mother of God, who are sources of
healing, to strengthen us in faith, to multiply our love for God and our
peers and to give us hope that we will pass through this trial with His
help and helping the sick, the elderly, those who suffer from
loneliness, disease, and old age.”
“We Christians always have hope and, as the Holy Apostle Paul said,
whether we live or die we belong to the Lord; much more important than
health is salvation, that is, our union with Christ the Source of Life
and Healing,” the Patriarch said April 24.
Patriarch Daniel explained in his homily why the feast of the
Lifegiving Spring was ordained during Bright Week. “To show us that
Christ the Lord is the Source of Healing, the Physician of our bodies
and souls.”
“Christ the Lord healed many sick people. He gave them good health
and raised three people from the dead. Through His miracles, He showed
His merciful and humble love.”
“Therefore, the Church has ordained that in this Bright Week, in
which we especially celebrate Christ risen from the dead, we should
remember His healing power. Thus, the Sundays from Easter to Pentecost
are Sundays of spiritual and physical healings.”
The Mother of God received the gift of healing from Christ, the
Patriarch noted, because she is the closest human being to Christ, and
she carried Him in her womb and then in her arms.
His Beatitude also referred to the theology of the festal icon,
saying that Christ stands in the centre of the icon and that the
Theotokos becomes a source of healing.Photography courtesy of the Basilica.ro Archive
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