St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Montreal Celebrates Its Patron Saint

On Sunday, June 16, St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Montreal celebrated its patron saint in advance. His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian was warmly welcomed in the traditional manner with bread and salt by the cathedral's children. Fr. George Chișcă, the parish priest, Fr. Mircea Panciuk, the archpriest emeritus, Fr. Constantin Lupașcu, and Fr. George Albert Drăgan were part of the group of priests who participated in the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with the Romanian bishop of Canada. The responses at strana were given by the cathedral choral group.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, in his homily, HG Bishop Ioan Casian said:

"The Church is the work of God. He is the One who, through His Son, acquired it for us. If St. Paul the Apostle draws the attention of ministers to the role, they have in preserving and preaching the faith, we must understand that the Church is all of us - clergy and believers. In its fullness, the Church preserves the faith because it is a work of the Holy Spirit that Christ, through His sacrifice and resurrection, acquired for us.

St. Paul the Apostle says that the work of the Church was based on the work of God and His word. The Church is built based on the working word of God in it. Nothing can be done in good order and divine spirit without this foundation, which is the word of God. He builds and directs the mission of the Church towards the anticipated living of the Kingdom of God in and through the Church. It makes the work of holiness grow in the Church and helps the faithful to become holy."

Speaking about the signs of the true work of the Church, the hierarch said:

"A first sign through which we can ascertain the true work of the Church is the care for the weak. Charity, almsgiving, help, and all other works performed by the faithful of the Church show the work that accompanies true faith. 'For as the body without the soul is dead, so faith without works is dead,'[1] says St. James the Apostle. The authentic work of the Church cannot be without the fruits of the true work of God's grace.

A second sign of the true work of the Church is the remembrance of the word of God. Nothing can grow and multiply in the Church and in the world in general without the force of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who became our fellow man by incarnation, uniting with human nature in His divine person, taking it on His shoulders, straightening and redeeming it, He raised it to God the Father. This is why we need to remember His words because they mean to us health, salvation, and eternal and true life."

Speaking about the gospel text of the day, the Romanian bishop of Canada said:

"Today is the 7th Sunday after Easter we remember the Holy Fathers from the First Ecumenical Synod of Nicaea in 325 AD. The Gospel highlights some of the clarifications brought by this synod regarding the Church's teaching of faith. The first part of the Creed that we recite in churches today, which talks about the Father and the Son, was drafted at this synod. It clarified, against the Arian heresy in particular, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God born according to divinity eternally from the Father and according to humanity without seed in time from the Virgin Mary. Christ's mission, entrusted by the Father, was to give us salvation and eternal life. Christ humbled Himself according to His divine glory through economy so that He could make Himself accessible to us. But the glory He had as part of the divine Trinity never left him.

From the words entrusted to Him by the Father and given to the disciples, they recognized Christ as the Son of God. God's care for us as humans remains even after Christ's ascension through God's grace and providence."

Then the hierarch also spoke about other measures taken by the First Ecumenical Synod that had a significant impact on Roman society since then and which are felt even today.

Next, HG Bishop Ioan Casian presented Fr. George Chișcă with the distinction of archpriest emeritus with the diocesan anniversary medal in recognition of his long activity in the service of the Church and the Romanian Orthodox community in the Montreal area.

Fr. George Chișcă thanked the hierarch for the distinction and recalled the feast of St. John the Baptist, the patron of the cathedral and the province of Quebec.

At the end, those present participated in the festive agape carefully prepared by the cathedral women's organization.

[1] Jacob 2, 26