Patriarch Daniel of Romania emphasized the importance of prayer for the unity of the Church during his sermon on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council.
The Patriarch participated in the Divine Liturgy celebrated at the historic Chapel of Saint George at the Patriarchal Residence, where he reflected on the close connection between the confession of the true faith and the preservation of ecclesiastical unity.
Referring to the commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325, Patriarch Daniel noted that the Church intentionally placed this feast on the seventh Sunday after Pascha, between the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost.
He recalled that the Council Fathers, convened by Constantine the Great, proclaimed the divinity of Jesus Christ and formulated the first seven articles of the Orthodox Creed.
“They confessed that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages,” the Patriarch said.
Prayer and the Unity of the Church
Patriarch Daniel stressed that the unity of the Church is deeply rooted in Christ’s prayer before His Passion, when He prayed for His disciples and for all those who would believe in Him.
“Christ prayed that His disciples may be one, just as He and the Father are one,” he said, adding that this unity is expressed through communion, mutual love, and shared faith.
The Romanian Patriarch warned against the dangers of division, noting that “the devil seeks to sow enmity among people and separate them.”
“It is not enough to speak about the unity of the Church, but we must pray for it,” Patriarch Daniel emphasized. “We must pray so that we may preserve and confess the true Christian faith and cultivate together an authentic Christian life, thus affirming the holy unity of the Church.”
Source: basilica.ro / photo credit: Ziarul Lumina
