Thoughts at the end of the project “The Church – the family of Romanians everywhere”

The project “The Church – the Family of Romanians Everywhere”, which aims to contribute to creating links or twinning between communities in Romania and those in the diaspora, has completed its first chapter: Romanians from Braila and Glasgow have met, become friends and now get to work! Fr. Victor and Fr. Mihai announced that they will make every Thursday the akathist of a patron saint of the diaspora to which they will mention their brothers from Glasgow. All participants in the project want to contribute, as far as they are able, to the extraordinarily rich philanthropic activity of the Holy Archangels parish and. Children from Braila and Glasgow are preparing for their first lessons of Romanian language. We have gathered some thoughts at the end of these meetings that we want to share with all of you because they best describe the impact of this project on all of us! 

“Thank God that He allowed us all to participate in such a great project of the Romanian Patriarchate. We felt from the first moment, that this twinning of our two Parishes would go straight to the heart. I was looking forward to our Zoom meeting the last few Sundays. We thank the parents who, day by day, together with the volunteers, earn a corner of heaven through such humanitarian projects. Also to the wonderful children, who made us laugh, cry, feel like children again! It will remain a memorable experience due to the professionalism shown by all those who made this beautiful meeting possible. A big thank you to all!” (Ana Mariana Galan, Glasgow)

“The moments spent with the Braila parish were a comfort for our soul, we felt so close to home and it seemed as if the longing for Romania diminished in those hours we spent with those back home! This project has gathered Romanian souls together!” (Nicoleta Iosif, Glasgow)

“Longing… It is so deeply embedded in our souls that only a breeze, a scent, a sound similar to home, and we are already there with our whole being… That’s it.. It cannot be extinguished. That’s the reality… Christ strengthens us, otherwise tomorrow morning at dawn I would fly! No one can take away our longing for the Country… She exists and abides eternally in us… because for all of us, those who were born in Romania, that’s where home is… many are the countries in the world, but only one is the homeland…” (Marina Kesler, Glasgow)

“The twinning with the church in Braila and the opportunity to meet the members of the parish and all their activities gave us emotional moments and the opportunity to meet our loved ones in a beautiful place. The church is our family, full of good people, blessed things, wonderful children, and lots of love! These Sundays were eagerly awaited with great enthusiasm, just like when we were waiting to go “Home” to Romania!” (Georgiana Amaicei, Glasgow)

“Thank you for all these feelings! It was a great joy for me to participate in such an event!” (Dorina Ciupală, Braila)

“We give thanks from the bottom of our hearts for this initiative of the Romanian Patriarchate to carry out this unique project because, through this wonderful event, we not only twinned with each other, but we, those from afar, got to know each other better, we smiled together and were pleasantly surprised in so many ways. We felt literally “moved” to the The Romanian village, with all that its beautiful traditions. We would never have met these true Romanians who not only did not forget about their native place, but also brought it here with all its beauties! We hope that this love of country, nation and ancestral land will be transmitted from father to son and carry on this tradition. At least my family and I were overwhelmed by these wonderful Romanians. Extraordinary ambition, wonderful and beautiful faith! We cannot help but bow to such people, true sowers of the gospel of Christ! May the good Lord reward their love in Christ the Lord and may their faith be multiplied!” (Marinela Datcu, Liverpool)

The project “Joys from the Romanian heart” at which I was present was a project, an activity, a meeting between two parishes with great souls, two parishes with strong souls, two parishes that grow their children anchored in the greatness and steadfastness of the values of the Romanian people and who look with confidence to the future.

The meetings in the virtual space united us, shortening the physical distance between us, achieving a great sense of spiritual closeness. This was achieved thanks to the people present, people with love for the holy, the spiritual, and last but not least, due to the presence of priestly fathers who guided us (as always), coordinated us, brought to light the best of us. Everything went perfectly, naturally, spontaneously, beautifully. Time compressed and I didn’t even realize when it had passed, sometimes three hours, sometimes four hours. We sighed, we were amused, we strengthened ourselves, we counseled, we received advice from Father Victor, Father Michael, Father George, we lifted our souls when Father Mark sang in ancient Greek the Hymn of the Mother of God. We consolidated and realized that together we are one big Orthodox family with love for God, with love for good deeds, with love for our fellow human beings. May God protect the Romanian Orthodox people and nation, priests and all servants of our churches.” Camelia Aurelia Cherciu, librarian

“It was emotional !! Congratulations on the effort and dedication with which you do everything. I thank God that through you I take part in this project with my heart!!” (Cătălina Pațelea, Brăila)

“This year, in the middle of the pandemic, when the territorial borders were closed, we suppressed physical distances and managed to open our soul to embrace with our hearts our Romanian brothers abroad, more precisely in Glasgow, Scotland.

The meeting itself was prepared at the “Saint Basil” social canteen in Brăila, where the children from the church met and joined their efforts, skills and enthusiasm to create the most original and representative gifts for our countrymen in Scotland. They managed to make with great care and craftsmanship, dolls costumed in the Romanian folk dress, Martisors, greeting cards, even an emblematic model for the theme of this project.

Great was the joy of having by our side, even through the computer screen, those who feel and live Romanian, although they are far from the ancient lands. During the three meetings, we managed to get to know each other, to share impressions from the cultural-missionary activities we participated in over time, as parishioners of the two parishes. It was a touching exchange of impressions and unique experiences, in the form of a lively dialogue that lifted the soul. The retrospective moments blended harmoniously with the other artistic moments prepared with great care and enthusiasm by the children of the two parishes. Thus, they had the opportunity to sing, to recite, to tell riddles in Romanian language, to present their literary creations, all bearing the mark of twinning, of communion, which was, in fact, the leitmotif of these online meetings.

I learned on this occasion that being Romanian abroad means a true mission of Christian apostolate, not easy at all. It involves in its depth a self-sacrifice for the people, for the language and faith in which you were born.

The contact with Romanians abroad gave us the opportunity to reflect on the values we have and live daily in the homeland, but of which we are often not aware. The ancestral Church, the Romanian people and the ancestral language best define the value of this people, which we have also found in the cordial messages transmitted by our friends in Glasgow who have become, over time, good ambassadors of Romania in European culture and civilization.

I believe that these moments spent in the company of Romanian brothers and sisters represented a true premise for twinning that will manifest itself in the future, by carrying out cultural-missionary and self-help projects that will aim to promote and support everything that is specific to Romanians, united by the Church, the one that truly represents the family of Romanians everywhere.” Tudosie Liliana, Romanian language teacher