Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church has sent a message of blessing and encouragement to the participants of the 30th International Inter-Christian Conference on Orthodox Spirituality, held on September 3-6, 2024, at the Monastery of Bose in Italy.
The event, organized under the leadership of Father Sabino Chialà, the monastery’s prior, brought together Christian leaders and scholars to discuss the spiritual teachings of the Church Fathers.
This year’s theme, Saint Basil the Great – Teacher of Christian Life, highlighted the enduring impact of Saint Basil’s theological and philanthropic legacy.
Patriarch Daniel emphasized the importance of Saint Basil’s life as a “missionary paradigm for every Christian,” noting his unceasing dedication to serving God and his neighbor.
In his message, the Patriarch called for a deeper exploration of Orthodox patristic spirituality and encouraged participants to cultivate the spirit of prayer, forgiveness, and philanthropy in today’s world.
He concluded by invoking blessings from Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints on the symposium’s work, underscoring the need for Christian role models in modern society.
Please find below the full text of Patriarch Daniel’s message:
Saint Basil the Great – Confessor and Missionary of Liturgical and Mystical (Philokalic) Life
Rev. Prior Sabino Chialà,
Dear Participants,
We extend our greetings and blessings to the participants of the 30th International Inter-Christian Conference on Orthodox Spirituality, held from September 3–6, 2024, at the Monastery of Bose, and especially to Father Sabino Chialà, the monastery’s prior, through whose efforts these annual symposia are organized.
This initiative, which has been promoting Orthodox patristic spirituality, the spirituality of the Holy Fathers of the Church, for more than thirty years, offers a perspective of convergence, revitalization, and harmonious functionality for the two main Christian traditions today in ecclesial consciousness and witness.
The theme of this year’s symposium, Saint Basil the Great – Teacher of Christian Life, is of particular importance because, through his theological work preserved to this day and through the remarkable impact of his philanthropic endeavors, sown and nurtured internally and revealed externally to others, Saint Basil the Great stands as a missionary paradigm for every Christian.
His life is a marvelous work of outpouring from within to without in an unceasing liturgy of serving God through his neighbor. In this sense, the memory of the Church consecrates him as one of the Fathers who laid the foundations for the ascetic organization of monastic life and for the mystical contemplation of the purified soul toward union with God (a concept that spiritual literature would later consecrate under the term Philokalia).
This represents the Christian spirituality revealed in the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God: from above to below, from heaven to earth, from transcendence into immanence, from theology into economy, from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of the Virgin, from God into man—without confusion or mixture, but rightly (ortho) united, so that man may live in the God-Man.
We wish all participants the joy of deepening and internalizing the richness of grace conveyed in the Holy Scriptures and elucidated by the Holy Fathers in order to testify how wonderful God is in His saints (Psalm 67:36).
We pray to the Lord Jesus Christ, to His Mother, and to all the saints to bless the work of this symposium, fostering the patristic missionary spirit in a world in great need of prayer and forgiveness, of liturgy and philanthropy, and above all, of models for the Christian life.
† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Source: basilica.ro
