The Romanian Orthodox community of St. Mary's Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in the city of Dacula, Georgia, had the great joy to welcome once again in its midst His Eminence Nicolae, Archbishop of the USA and Metropolitan of the Americas, from 20th-21st January, 2024. The faithful of St. Mary's Church have the great privilege at the beginning of each year to receive hierarchical blessings directly from their Metropolitan.
The visit began on Saturday evening when, at 6:00 pm, the faithful gathered with parish priest Fr. Nicolae Clempuș and His Eminence Nicolae for the Great Vespers service. Along with the two, Father George Axente of the Romanian Orthodox Church of Saints Constantine and Helen and Father Teodor Regoș, a retired priest from St. Mary's Church, also participated in the evening service.
In his address to the faithful present, His Eminence Nicolae spoke about the Holy Doctors without silver and healers whom we celebrate in the first month of 2024 and the importance of the holy healers for the life of the Church and for comforting the suffering of the faithful.
Furthermore, after Vespers, His Eminence Nicolae, and Fr. Nicolae Clempuș held a meeting with the members of the Parish Council and their families. Fr. Nicolae briefly presented the situation of the parish, and the members of the Parish Council could complete or ask questions on various topics. Methods and solutions for a good balance of the budget and a balance which needs to exist in the Church between fundraising and the unique role of the Church to lead people to salvation were discussed.
The next day, the visit continued with the Divine Liturgy during which His Eminence Nicolae served together with parish priest Nicolae Clempuș and priest Teodor Regoș. In his sermon after the Divine Liturgy, the Hierarch spoke to the faithful about the importance of the relationship with God and the threefold encounter with Him that takes place in the Church through the presence at the Divine Liturgy:
Today's Holy Gospel should be an exhortation to each of us to investigate what our chances are of meeting God. We see that the visual encounter of the blind man and Zacchaeus with Christ in Jericho brought them salvation. When the eyes of the man born blind were opened, the first face he saw was that of Christ, the Incarnate God, and therefore he also received salvation of soul and healing from blindness. Like Zacchaeus, he saw Christ, met God, and this joy of encounter changed his life.
We can also meet God in the Church: in the word of the Gospel, in Holy Communion with His Body and Blood and in the icon. As we enter the church we look towards the Holy Altar and see the icon of the Savior. The Incarnation of the Son of God gave us the chance to meet God face to face in the icon. This encounter can sometimes be insignificant. But we can dare to look up and meet Christ, and the encounter can have the significance of that between Christ and Zacchaeus.
After the dismissal of the faithful, His Eminence Nicolae, along with the priests and the faithful of St. Mary's Church, attended a festive meal in the social hall organized by the ladies of AROLA. The visit of the Metropolitan of the Americas to the Atlanta area is a blessing for the Romanian Orthodox faithful who have settled in this part of the American world, it is a nourishment for the soul transmitted through the spoken word and with great erudition through the words of teaching spoken in the Church. We give glory to God for such blessings!
Fr. Nicolae Clempuș
