Nicula, Cluj County, Romania, August 18, 2023
Metropolis of Cluj
75,000 Romanian Orthodox pilgrims traveled to Nicula Monastery in Cluj County to celebrate the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos on Tuesday.
Many believers came a few days before the feast to venerate the monastery’s wonderworking icon of the Theotokos and to participate in the services celebrated on the outdoor altar, reports the Basilica News Agency.
Metropolis of Cluj
The events began the day before with the traditional 5 mile-pilgrimage from Gherla that recalls when the monastery icon wept for 3 weeks in 1699. The procession was led by His Eminence Metropolitan Andrei of Cluj and His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of Western and Southern Europe.
The procession stopped along the way at a cemetery with mass graves of political prisoners from the communist period, where the hierarchs and pilgrims prayed for their salvation. After Vespers for the feast, a procession with the wonderworking icon was held at the monastery.
About 30,000 people attended the Liturgy for the feast on Tuesday morning.
Metropolis of Cluj
In his homily, Met. Andrei encouraged the faithful to overcome the sin of indifference to others:
The Mother of God teaches us to do what the Savior, Christ, tells us, and the deeds of Christian mercy we should not forget. Christian mercy is not a theory, but is materialized in deeds, both small and large. The question we ask ourselves is this: Why do we fail to put into practice the works of Christian mercy? Why are people indifferent to each other, more distant from the Church, from God and from the holy ones? The cause would be one: our indifference.
You who came to Nicula Monastery this year can be happy. You just have to stop being indifferent to each other, because you never know which of the other is Christ.
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