For the faithful of Sts Constantine and Elena parish of Edmonton, the weekend of May 25-26, 2019, marked a historic moment. On the official celebration of the Church Anniversary, our Church was elevated to the rank of Cathedral. On top of the prior interior Church renovations, just a few days before this weekend, the installation of the stained-glass windows, executed in Iassy, Romania, had been completed. This constitutes one more effort of adorning our Church, thanks to the sacrificial offering and love for the Bride of Christ, - the Church - demonstrated by our pious faithful.
The joy and the enthusiasm of our parishioners were amplified by the presence for this event of the two hierarchs of our Metropolia of the Americas: His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae of Chicago and His Grace Ioan Casian, Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada.
On Saturday, May 25, at 9:00 am, in the presence of His Grace Ioan Casian, Fr. George Bazgan opened the Symposium “Servants and defenders of the faith and spiritual values of the Romanian people.” After a short introduction, Fr. George invited the V. Rev. Fr. Mircea Panciuk to the podium to present his conference: ”Patriarch Justin Moisescu.” Showing the academic activity of the 4th Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Romania, as well as his hierarchical ascendency, the speaker emphasized the work of restoring monasteries and building new churches accomplished during the Communist regime.
The second conference, titled “The Orthodox Church – the soul of the Romanian village,” was presented by Fr. George Bazgan. Starting with the origins of the first village, established by God in Paradise, the speaker reminded the audience of God’s first visit to the village established by man, at the oak of Mamre, where Abraham was the host of the three angels. Speaking of the era of Grace, the presenter mentioned the many visits made by our Lord Jesus Christ to the villages throughout the land of Israel. Then, Fr. George spoke about the indispensable role of the Romanian Orthodox Church, throughout the millennia, in the life of the Romanian village as a “true light house, offering light, hope, guidance, peace and joy, forgiveness and sanctification, comforting and healing.
Following the lunch break, the conference titled “The Christian Family in the context of the contemporary progressive society,” was presented by Mrs. Veronica Ciocan. With great competence, the speaker made a short history of the Christian family, explaining the moral and spiritual principles that assured its viability and stability through the millennia. Then, she spoke of the challenges the Christian family has to contend with in our modern time.
Saturday ended with the Vespers service in the presence of the two Hierarchs. At the end, His Grace Ioan Casian spoke of the joy we still share during this Pascal season and our vocation to proclaim the reality of Christ’s Resurrection: “Every time we come to Church, we are like the myrrh-bearing women and the Apostles who found the empty tomb and received the mandate of spreading the miracle of Resurrection to all.”
On the glorious morning of May 26, the two Hierarchs were welcomed by three young people, dressed in traditional Romanian attire, with the traditional bread and salt. As the bell was tolling and the crowd were singing the hierarchical hymn, the Hierarchs were vested and, together with the serving priests and deacon, proceeded to the blessing of the icons in the stained-glass windows.
Then, Ciprian Roman, a theologian from Calgary, was made a chanter and sub-deacon, and ordained as deacon during the Divine Liturgy, attended by many people.
Following the Memorial service for the Church founders, Metropolitan Nicolae preached about the woman of Samaria, showing how important it is to come as often as possible to Church to receive “the living water.” He, then, spoke about the life St. Constantine the Great, who legalized Christianity through the Edict of Milan of 313.
His Grace, Bishop Ioan Casian handed over the diplomas to the students who participated in the Religion Olympics. Then he spoke of the important role of the Romanian Orthodox Christians of Alberta in preserving the faith, traditions and spiritual values, brought here by the worthy Romanian Pioneers from the Bucovinian Boian, more than 120 years ago: “It is on the basis of this important contribution, the Primate of our Diocese said, that we decided to elevate this Church to the rank of Cathedral. Then, His Grace read the Diocesan Gramata, which specified the accomplishments of this parish and, at the same time, reminded of the responsibilities that come with this high distinction. His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian offered Fr. George Bazgan the icon of Sts Constantine and Elena and Metropolitan Nicolae awarded him the Metropolitan American Cross.
In his response, Fr. George thanked the two Hierarchs for their love and effort to be in the midst of the faithful, as well as for this great honor bestowed upon the parish of Edmonton.
On behalf of the Edmonton parish, Fr. George offered to the newly ordained Deacon, Fr. Ciprian, an icon of his patron saint, together with the wishes of fruitful service. At the end, the faithful received icons of the patron saints (Constantine and Helen), brought by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae.
At the festive banquet, Bishop Ioan Casian handed certificates of long service and accomplishments to 10 parishioners.
We thank our loving God for rendering us worthy of inscribing a new page in the history of our parish and, at the same time, to start a new one on which to mark new accomplishments!
May the Holy Theotokos keep all the hard-working, donors and worshipers of this Holy Church in Her loving care!
Fr. George Bazgan
