Continue In What You Have Learned and Firmly Believed

Posted on by Fr. Peter
V. Rev. Fr. Nicholas Apostola
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church

This week we begin the Triodion, the Church’s hymn book for Great Lent leading to Pascha. While Lent is still a few weeks off, the Fathers decided to help us get ready for it by focusing our attention through Scripture readings and hymns. Today’s Gospel lesson is the parable of the the Publican (tax collector) and the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14). The Epistle reading is from St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy, 3:10-15.
The selected reading comes out of a portion of the Letter concerned with the End-Times, that is, the Second Coming of Jesus. St. Paul is predicting what will happen to people as the time for the Lord’s arrival draws near. He is particularly trying to encourage and strengthen his beloved disciple Timothy, who we learn from St. Paul’s letters and in Acts, is a quiet and retiring person, not the kind of strong personality that St. Paul is himself.
The first thing that St. Paul offers Timothy is his own example. He has done this in other situations as well, for example when he tells the Corinthians that they might have many teachers but not may fathers (1 Cor 4:15); or when he tells them to “be imitators of me as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). So, in a more gentle way, he says to Timothy: “You have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and my suffering the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.” (v. 10-11) St. Paul had suffered in many places, but in this passage he only mentions those places that Timothy would personally remember, especially Lystra, where St. Timothy was born, raised, and first met St. Paul.
He then tells Timothy a sobering reality: “All who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (v. 12) He is speaking first and foremost out of his own personal experience. While a committed disciple of the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, he persecuted the followers of Christ mercilessly. When Jesus appeared to him and he then became a follower of Jesus, he himself became the one persecuted. In our own time Christian believers are being firebombed and killed even in their own Churches, in Nigeria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Indonesia — only to mention a few places. For them and others a choice to openly confess their faith in Jesus Christ may very well mean a choice to suffer and die. Not so many years ago the same was true in all of the Eastern Bloc.
This is not to say that people of other faiths do not also suffer persecution — sometimes at the hands of ‘Christians’ — but suffering because of faith in the person and teachings of Jesus the Christ has distinguished His followers throughout the centuries. Most of us have grown up in a political environment where we have never had to choose between our lives and our faith. Unfortunately, from the outset, many Christians have. Regardless, it is never easy to be Christian. While we might not be asked by others to put our lives on the lines, we are still asked by the Lord Himself to die to ourselves in order to truly live, in Christ.
The second point, a corollary, is that: “wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived.” (v. 13) One of the titles of the devil is the “Deceiver.” It was through his deception that Eve took the fruit in the Garden. It was she who naïvely deceived Adam to share in it. (cf. Genesis 3:1ff) St. Paul speaks of a cycle of evil and wickedness. One feeds on the other. It becomes difficult, if not impossible, to stop. Only with God is it possible to break this cycle. (cf. Matthew 19:25-26)
St. Paul offers this instruction to Timothy, both to strengthen his resolve in the face of persecution as well as to prepare him to face the wickedness of the world. “Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (v. 14-15)
Timothy’s mother was a pious Jewish woman married to a pagan. Theirs was what we might call today a “mixed marriage.” Nevertheless, she educated Timothy according to Jewish tradition; beginning from age five all children were to be instructed in the Sacred Writings. Even while recommending the study of Scripture, St. Paul also emphasizes the role of the people who taught him. We can presume that he meant his mother. Just as he had offered himself as an example to follow, so too is he now reminding Timothy of his mother’s example of faith. As parents we are the primary example our children look to for everything, but especially regarding our faith; the way we integrate and manifest what we say we believe with how we actually behave is what our children will remember.
Finally he reiterates the power of Scripture to “instruct for salvation.” Until recently it was common for children to memorize Scripture, and especially the Psalms. One requirement for ordination to the episcopacy is to be able to recite the entire Books of Psalms by heart. Verses of the Sacred Text that are engraved on our hearts come to our aid when we are struggling and in need of consolation. “Through our faith in Christ Jesus” the comforting words inspired by the Holy Spirit bring peace to our hearts and salvation to our souls.
Maranatha! (“Lord, come!”)

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee begins the Lenten Triodion, the liturgical book used in the services of Great Lent. It is the Sunday after the Sunday of Zacchaeus and Sunday before Sunday of the Prodigal Son. This is the pre-Lenten start of the Easter cycle of worship in the Orthodox Church.
The focus this Sunday is on the Gospel of Luke 18:10-14, in which two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, an externally decent and righteous man of religion, and the other was a publican, a sinful tax-collector who was cheating the people.
Though the Pharisee was genuinely righteous under the Law, he boasted before God and was condemned. The publican, although he was truly sinful, begged for mercy, received it, and was justified by God.
On this Sunday in the preparation for Great Lent, Orthodox Christians are to see that they have not the religious piety of the Pharisee, but the repentance of the publican. They are called to think about themselves, in the light of Christ’s teaching, as they really are and to beg for mercy. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18:14)

h/t Orthodox Wiki

I am Getting Old!

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Shortly after my graduation from High School in 1984 I enlisted in the United States Army.  I served on Active Duty for three years is such exotic places as Fort Polk, Louisiana.  I returned home and spent the next few years in the Massachusetts Army National Guard.  After a short break in service, I went back in and was released from service in 2004, the year I was ordained, with 12 1/2 years in the service.  I have often thought of going back in and finishing my 20!

A few weeks ago I received an email saying that Orthodox Chaplains in the military are at a critical low and sometimes troops will go an entire deployment without seeing a priest or receiving the sacraments.  I find this unacceptable!  Back when I was a young impressionable person, it was an Army chaplain that put me back on the right path and the last four years I was in I was a chaplains assistant.  The chaplain is extremely important.  A chaplain is a chaplain for all not just his/her faith group but when needed you service your own denominational population.

So I started thinking I could get in shape, round is a shape but not one my Uncle Sam is looking for right now, and go back on Active Duty, serve a few years and retire with a pension.  I would then be able to go to a small mission parish and not have to worry about if they could pay me or not.  Oddly enough there is an Orthodox Priest chaplain who recruits Orthodox clergy for the Army, so I called him.  Well low and behold, I AM TOO OLD!  Wow did that hurt!

One needs to be able to complete 20 years of service by the time one reaches 62, or one needs to be commissioned by the age of 45.  Yikes, I turn 45 on June.  The paper works takes about a month to a month and half and the board only meets 4 times a year and the next time they meet is the end of March.  That means my stuff would need to be in by March 1st, not going to make it.  So I am too old.  This is the first time I have been told I am too old to do something.  Wow, it still hurts…  LOL

But all is not lost, I am in a conversation with some folks in the National Guard.  I guess you can be old and be in the Guard!  I need to loose some pounds, which is a good thing anyway, and get in shape, other than the one I am in, again a good thing.  So watch these pages for more on that.  In the mean time I need to find my walker so I can take my feeble self to Church!

31 January ~ St. Aed of Ferns

Posted on by Fr. Peter
St. Aed of Ferns (‘Aedh-og or Mo-Aedh-og, Maedoc, Aedan, Aidan, or Mogue) was an early bishop of Ferns, in Ireland. He was born at Inisbrefny (an island in Templeport Lake) then in the area known as Magh Slécht, now the parish of Templeport, County Cavan, about 550; he died at Ferns, 31 January 632…
He was a first cousin of St. Dallan Forgaill. His father Setna was a tribal chieftain and his mother was Eithne. There was no boat to take the infant to the mainland to be baptised so he is said to have been miraculously floated across the lake on a slab of stone to where Saint Kilian was waiting to perform the baptism. The holy water font in St. Mogue’s Church in Bawnboy is said to be made from part of that stone.
When a youth he was a hostage in the hands of Áed mac Ainmuirech of the Cenél Conaill, High King of Ireland. He studied at the great school of Saint Finnian at Clonard and at Kilmuine, in Wales, under St. David, and returned to Ireland in 580. Ainmire went so far as to predict that Aedan would become a leader of the church. While at Clonard Aedan made friends with Molaise, who would later found the monastery of Devenish Island on the River Erne.
He returned to Ireland in 580, landing on the coast of Wexford. In thanksgiving for the victory of Dunbolg, County Wicklow, 10 January 598, in which King Aedh was slain, Brandub mac Echach (d. 603), King of Leinster, convened a synod at which, having represented the great services rendered to the kingdom of Leinster by St. Aedan, notably the remission of the Boromha tribute, it was agreed that Ferns be made an episcopal see – the Diocese of Ferns – with Aedan as first bishop. He was also given a nominal supremacy over the other Leinster bishops by the title of Ard-Escop or Chief Bishop. King Bran Dubh was slain in Ferns in 603. St. Aedan, popularly known as Mogue (Mo-Aedh-og = my dear Aedh) founded thirty churches and a number of monasteries. The first of these monasteries was on the island of Inis Breachmhaigh where he was born. The ruins of an 18th century church remain on the island, a church where mass was furtively celebrated during the Penal days. The ruins are surrounded by a burial ground now officially closed except for a few families whose ancestors are buried there. Twenty-five graves are marked with headstones. The clay or mortar from inside the ruins of the church is said to be a protection against fire or drowning and is kept by many local people in their homes.
He also founded monasteries at Drumlane, near Milltown in County Cavan, at Ferns in County Wexford, across the Irish Sea in Wales where he was under the monastic rule of Saint David, at Disert-Nairbre in County Waterford and finally in Rossinver in County Leitrim where, on Lough Melvin’s shore, he died on the 31 January, 632. He was buried there in the church that he had established. A broze reliquary in which his relics were kept is currently preserved in Dublin.

Another Leak in Southbridge

Posted on by Fr. Peter
A few weeks ago, on this blog, I wrote about the leak of Executive Session minutes and I called for all parties involved to do the right thing and come clean.  I cited several ethics sections of the Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as well as the oath that all elected officials take.

The investigation was concluded and a confidential report was given to the Town by the Worcester District Attorneys office.  This morning I was emailed a copy of this report.  The email came from the email address sirleakalot@hotmail.com and contained only a pdf copy of the report clearly marked confidential.

As an elected and appointed official in the Town of Southbridge, and as the ethical person I like to think I am I reported this matter to the Town Manager and Vice Chair of the Town Council by email this morning.  on advice of legal counsel I will also be notifying the Chief of the Southbridge Police first thing tomorrow (Monday) to report that I am in possession of this report.

I will confess that I read the report and I will keep the email and attachment in my email program as evidence.  I will also state for the record that I do not know the identity of Sir Leakalot nor the identity of anyone else that this email was sent to.

I find this entire matter distasteful and something needs to be done about this.  This is now the second time this has happened.  I would suggest that anyone else who was emailed a copy of this report to report it to the Town Manager and Police Department.  I will also state for the record that I have not forwarded this information to anyone.

Sir Leakalot, if you read these pages I would like to be left out of this type of activity in the future.  I am not sure what you are trying to do but I do not want to be part of it.  I feel this in unethical and my personal and political ethics do not allow me to participate in this type of behavior.

A New Chapter has Begun

Posted on by Fr. Peter
If you are a long time reader of these pages you know that for the last 7 years along with being pastor of St. Michael’s Church I also serve as chaplain to the Dudley Fire Department.  I love my work as chaplain and I have learned many things that also cross over into the parish.  There was a time that if it was not for the ministry in fire department I really do not know if I would have stayed in ministry.

During that time I have been getting involved more in the running of the fire department, working the in the training division and getting certified in various other tasks around the fire house.  Just this past week I finished phase one of the certification process for wild land firefighter and I look forward to phase 2.

Back on December 31st, the Fire Chief retired and we were left without a chief.  In the normal course of events an acting or interim chief would have been named the same day the chief retired so there would be continuity.  This is important in the fire service as it is in most any field.  Leadership is important in the parish as well as in the fire house.  The leader sets the tone and everything that is done is based on that tone and vision.

The Board of Selectman tasked the ranking captain with oversight of the fire department in January and worked to find a short term solution.  The Fire Chief’s job has been posted in case anyone is interested in applying…  Last night the Board of Selectman appointed me as Chief Administrative Officer of the Dudley Fire Department. 

The Fire Department (any fire department) basically has two sections administrative and operations.  In large cities there are often chief officers that handle these different aspects of the fire service.  In the City of Boston for example there is a Fire Commissioner that handles all the admin stuff and deals with the political leaders.  He sets policy and the budget.  The Fire Chief and his deputies, handle the operational part of the fire department, that is what happens in an emergency.  The position I was appointed to is more in line with the fire commissioner I will have no operational command authority.  Actually I will stay in my role as chaplain in an emergency.

This is a temporary measure only until the new chief is hired.  My first task is to create the budget for the coming year and last Friday the Governor announced at 7% cut in local aid (that is the money the cities and towns in Massachusetts receive from the State) so my first job is to cut the budget!

I have written before about how important public safety is and how important it is to keep things at the present level of staffing.  The Dudley Fire Department has 6 full time firefighters plus the chief and the rest are on call folks who have to come from their homes.  The fire station is also only staffed from 7am to 6pm.  After 6pm both the fire and ambulance folks have to come from home to respond to fire calls.  This is the reality that we all work in.

So please pray for me as I begin this new chapter in my life, pray for the folks at the fire house as well I am not sure they know what they are in for…  LOL

Cold Weather Precautions

Posted on by Fr. Peter
With the temperature forcast well below zero tonight Residents are advised to take the following cold-weather precautions:
• Stay indoors and minimize outside activities, especially for elderly residents and young children.
• If you use electricity, make sure you have emergency heating equipment. When using alternative heating sources, such as a fireplace, wood stove or space heater, take the necessary safety precautions. Ensure that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working.
• The state fire marshal is warning residents to be extra careful with space heaters, which present a fire risk. Use them in a 3-foot circle of safety, free of anything that can catch fire. Keep in mind that they are not designed to replace a central heating system, they are designed only to provide a little extra heat on a temporary basis. Be sure to turn off space heaters when you leave a room or go to bed at night.
• Residents who see homeless people outside during the extreme cold are encouraged to call 911 so public safety officials can check on their well-being.
• Check on elderly or vulnerable neighbors to make sure they have what they need to withstand the cold.
• Dress in several layers of loose-fitting, lightweight clothing, rather than a single layer of heavy clothing. Outer garments should be tightly woven and water repellent. Wear hat, mittens and sturdy waterproof boots to protect fingers, toes, ear lobes and the tip of the nose.
• If you lose your heat, seal off unused rooms by stuffing towels in the cracks under the doors. At night, cover windows with extra blankets or sheets. Food provides the body with energy for producing its own heat.
• If pipes freeze, remove insulation, completely open all faucets and pour hot water over the pipes or wrap them with towels soaked in hot water, starting where they are most exposed to the cold. A hand-held hair dryer, used with caution, also works well.
• Allow a trickle of hot and cold water to run from a faucet that is farthest from your water meter, or one that has frozen in the past. This will keep water moving so that it cannot freeze. Learn how to shut off your water if a pipe bursts.
• Keep an emergency supply kit that includes flashlights, a portable radio, extra batteries, a first aid kit, bottled water and nonperishable food.
• Make sure your car is properly winterized. Keep the gas tank at least half full, and carry a kit in the trunk that includes blankets, extra clothing, flashlight with spare batteries, a can and waterproof matches (to melt snow for drinking water), nonperishable foods, a windshield scraper, a shovel, a sand tow rope and jumper cables.
Excessive exposure can lead to frostbite, which is damaging to body tissue that is frozen. Hypothermia can occur in extreme cases. The warning signs are uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness and apparent exhaustion. If a person’s temperature drops below 95 degrees, seek immediate medical care.
If medical assistance is not available, slowly warm up the person by wrapping the person in a blanket or using your own body heat. Do not warm the extremities first, because this drives the cold blood toward the heart and can lead to heart failure. Do not give the person alcohol. Warm liquids and foods are best.

Sermon ~ Sanctity of Life Sunday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Today we commemorate what has come to be called Sanctity of Life Sunday. In your bulletin I have included a letter from Archbishop Nicolae on this topic. I would recommend that you take this home and read it.
As we sit here, pilgrims from all over the United States are making their way to Washington, DC, the seat of power, to make their voices heard on opposition to abortion. A few years back some of us joined our voices to that of the pilgrims and made the trip to DC for the March for Life. It is good to make your voice heard on issues and we in the Church need to do a much better job making our voice heard.
During the March all sorts of people were joining together in one theme respect for life, although I saw many people carrying signs that were anti abortion I did not see many, if any signs, that addressed the other sanctity of life issues. Our Orthodox Church is squarely in the Pro Life column. And that has to mean more than just being anti abortion. If we truly believe that we need to protect life from conception to its natural end then we have to be concerned with life all along the developmental stages. Anti abortion gets more ink if you will because the life that is being protected is innocent and cannot fight for itself so we need to be the voice for the voiceless.  This is an important aspect of being pro life. But there is a difference between being anti abortion and being truly pro life. I like to think of myself as being pro life.
In the late spring and early summer of 1776 Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence. Largely his own work, although John Adams and Benjamin Franklin helped to edit the document, it became the standard for the next 200 plus years for freedom loving people all over the world. We all learned the worlds of the Declaration when we were in school and I believe that the second sentence of this wonderful document is the most important, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” We as Americans, and dare I say as Christians believe in a fundamental human right to life! This right to life was not given to us by some piece of paper more than 200 years ago but it was given to us by our creator at the moment of our creation. We have been endowed with the fundamental right to life.
As Orthodox Christians we believe that all life is sacred. We do not discriminate weather or not the life is worth while, we believe that all life is sacred. We have, all of us, been created in the image and likeness of God. In the Book Genesis, God says let us create them in OUR image. We have the divine spark, the very breath of God that was blown into our lungs at the moment of our creation. The psalmist tells us that God knew us before we were created, when he knitted us together in our mother’s womb.  God was present in us and with us from that very moment and each of us carries that image, the Divine Spark out into the world.
Man is a fallen creature. Through us, sin has come into the world and we have been separated from God. We were created to live in paradise and as Genesis tells us “to walk with God” as our first parents did. Adam and Eve actually walked in the presence of God, that is paradise to be with God at all times. Our disobedience caused that relationship to become separated. We were put out of the garden and told to fend for ourselves. Since that time man has struggled to get back into the garden to walk and talk with God in person. However, God did not take the image and likeness away from us when we were expelled from the garden.
For us to hold life as scared we have to be concerned for that Divine Spark, for all life all along the spectrum of that life. We need to be able to look at another human being and see in thier eyes, God and His Son Jesus Christ! If we cannot see that then we are not looking hard enough.
No one is born evil. We are born innocent and evil takes root in us for many reasons but no one is born evil. The man who shot all those people a few weeks back in Arizona was not born evil, and even though he committed an evil act does not mean that the Divine Spark is not still in him. It is there, and will be there, he has a soul, but his soul is dark. We do not know the reason why we just know that it is.
If our Church is truly pro life then we have to be concerned not only with life before it is born but for life as life. We need to concern ourselves with health care, poverty, and education. We need to be concerned about our senior citizens as well as those on the other end of the life spectrum. We need to be concerned about childhood hunger and on the other end of things we need to be concerned about childhood and adult obesity. We need to be concerned about what children watch on television and the games they play. Gone are the days of hopscotch and being able to stay out until the street lights come on. Our world has changed and we need to be concerned about this.
We live in the wealthiest nation on earth yet we have the highest percentage of childhood poverty and hunger. Each day the division between the classes is getting larger and larger. Childhood health care in the US is equal to that of some third world countries. Our education system is broken and we are graduating more and more people each year that cannot read and write.
We incarcerate more people in the US then most developed nations yet we have the worst rates of correction. Jesus told us that we need to visit those that are in prison.  How many of us have actually stepped foot inside a prison? I am not saying that it should be a palace but human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, deserve to be treated as human beings regardless of what they have done. These are not my words these are the Churches words, the Churches theology and the Churches Social Theory!
Sanctity of Life hits along many of the hot political topics of the day and our Church has pretty strong feelings on many of them. We as Orthodox Christians need to educate ourselves on what the Church teaches on the issues and be advocates for them. We can no longer sit by and watch the world go by, we need to be the change we want to see.
Recently, I was engaged in a conversation with someone about the media and society that we live in. It is easy to blame the media for the state of the world today but I say that the blame is not on the media, the media and television are only doing what they do because we the people have allowed them to get this way. In the news business (and it is business) there is the common line, if it bleeds it leads, this is because we love to see blood. We love to see the bad side of people because for some of us it makes us feel better about ourselves. The media does what it does because we consume it. If we stopped buying the newspapers or changed the channel or stopped supporting the advertisers of the newspapers of TV programs that go against our values then things will change. We did not get here overnight and we will not get out of it over night. We all need to work together for change or change will not happen.
Our Church is unabashedly pro life but this means far more than being anti abortion. We need to be concerned about homelessness, hunger, unemployment, health care, education, the economy all these things affect the sanctity of human life. On this Sanctity of life Sunday, pray that we the people have a better vision of the fundamental human right to life, not just here but around the world.

Message of His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae on Sanctity of Life Sunday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
On this Sunday of January 23rd 2011, we decided to pray together with other Orthodox Christians in America, for respect and defend of life in our world. This prayer is meant to be a call of God’s help to light those who do not understand that life comes from Him and must be respected and defended from the moment of the child’s conception in the mother’s womb. It is an awakening call to conscience that abortion is sin because it is killing life.
Ever since the beginning of the Christian Church, abortion was seen as a radical failure of love. Spouses’ love and their work together with God beget life. The child is the fruit of spouses’ love and God’s blessing. And this fruit bears full life from the conception in the mother’s womb. There is not an appendix to the mother’s body that she can discard it, but God’s gift to the spouses and to the whole world. To not understand when and how life is born means to ignore God, the neighbor and the world. And ignorance leads to alienation, not to love. Misunderstanding of the gift of life we are referring to, leads to a world without God and without love.
Man always was seeking love, for he was created in the image of God who is love (1 John 4, 8). The fulfillment of life is finding communion and love with God and with others. St. John the Evangelist tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1 John 1, 5-6). As Christians we ought to understand the truth about life, about its origin and not let ourselves be deceived by the false lights of this world without God. As Christians we ought to affirm the value and sanctity of life from the conception of the baby to the transition from this earthly life.
On this Sunday I urge you all to pray for those who do not understand and do not respect the sanctity of life, for those who committed the sin of abortion and need our help and prayer towards repentance. I urge you to pray that the Lord God will illuminate our minds and to understand the mission we had to fulfill as Orthodox Christians in defending the life and proclaiming its sanctity. To understand that defending life, we confess the foundation of our faith that is Christ’s Resurrection. I urge you at the Divine Liturgy to say this prayer to invoke the mercy and help of God:
O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, Who are in the bosom of the Father, True God, source of life and immortality, Light of Light, Who came into the world to enlighten it: You were pleased to be conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary for the salvation of our souls by the power of Your All-Holy Spirit. O Master, who came that we might have life more abundantly, we ask You to enlighten the minds and hearts of those blinded to the truth that life begins at conception and that the unborn in the womb are already adorned with Your image and likeness; enable us to guard, cherish and protect the lives of all those who are unable to care for themselves. For You are the Giver of Life, bringing each person from non-being into being, sealing each person with divine and infinite love. Be Merciful, O Lord, to those who, through ignorance or willfulness, affront Your divine goodness and providence through the evil act of abortion. May they, and all of us, come to the life of Your Truth and glorify You, the Giver of Life, together with Your Father, and Your All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
May God help us to respect and protect the human life!
With archpastoral blessings,
† Archbishop Nicolae
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