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By God’s grace, our monastery’s summer feast day – the Ascension of the Lord – took place this year on Saturday, May 31, 2025. Alongside the feast day celebrations, the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate was also celebrated. Just as in the past, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae was present amid the faithful beginning on Friday night, at the Hierarchical Great Vespers, continuing the following morning with the Divine Liturgy alongside a synaxis of 13 priests and 3 deacons.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, those departed were commemorated as always, during the Memorial Service. At the same time, the Romanian heroes were also commemorated, as the feast of Ascension represents their memorial day, with their sacrifice for “freedom, dignity, and unity” being mentioned by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae in his final remarks.

In his homily, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae entreated us to being continually conscious of our origin:

“By taking on our human body, Christ redirected it toward heaven, as our Holy Father Dumitru Stăniloae teaches. Our human body had become paralyzed, burdened by illnesses and sins. Man used to enjoy full communion with God, but by sin he began looking to the earth. For this reason, the first saving dispensation worked by Christ was to orient man’s eyes and entire being toward heaven, to free us from infirmity and sin. Afterwards, He endured death on the Cross in order to conquer death and to free us from the ultimate consequence of sin: death. Sin means man’s separation from God. The final sign of this separation is death, the separation of the soul from the body, and the body is placed in the grave. Christ healed us from death by passing through death, thereby freeing us from death, because when death encountered Christ, it was conquered. On the night of Holy Pascha, we hear: ‘O Death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?’. Christ descended into hell because death was holding captive those souls that were separated from God from Adam until the time of Christ. Death could not detain Christ, Who is Life itself, God Himself, and it was conquered.

“Therefore, Christ healed us from death and from sin, and through the Resurrection, He opened the doors to eternity, making possible again our communion with God, that communion that Adam had lost. Christ returned to God the Father with His human nature. Saint Gregory Palamas says that Christ ascended from the earthly realm to the heavenly realm and into the realm above the heavens. And Saint John Chrysostom says that Christ the God-Man ascended with His human nature above the archangels, seraphim, and cherubim, going up to the throne of the Godhead. And another Father says that all the heavenly hosts marveled at seeing a man ascending up to the right hand of God the Father. Christ lifted our nature up to heaven, to the right hand of God the Father. And the Fathers comment further that, through this Ascension into heaven, the universal saving dispensation was fulfilled because our human nature became fully transparent for the activity of God’s grace. Or, as Saint Dumitru Stăniloae says, the human nature became a substance transparent to God’s infinite love. Our nature—which until Christ could look only toward earth, being burdened by sins and infirmities—now is at the right hand of God the Father and has undergone a complete transfiguration. This means that the goal of the Incarnation has now been fulfilled, together with the Ascension to heaven, when our human nature was transfigured.

“Man’s goal is not to be tied to earth, but to ascend to heaven. On this festal day, we ought to try looking to heaven. Regardless of the weather, we should look to heaven not only with our bodily eyes, which can marvel at God’s creation, but also with our spiritual eyes, as ones who hope that we also will ascend to heaven. Our passage of several decades on this earth will be consummated through our resurrection and ascension to heaven. Beloved faithful, may we gaze on heaven with this hope. I invite you to perform an experiment: throughout the day, count for how many minutes you look to earth and for how many you look to heaven. You’ll see that it’s difficult to gave on heaven because man is attracted to earth. But, through this exercise, we understand that we aren’t created for earth, but for heaven. We need to fulfill this exercise in this life, because eternal life is nothing but a continuation of our earthly life: either hoping in the Incarnate and Risen Christ and having faith in His and our ascension; or refusing this faith and wanting to continue looking to the earth. It’s an exercise that, if we try it, it will confirm for us that we are created for heaven and not for earth.”

After his homily, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae offered a diploma of merit to Mrs. Consul General Simona Florea, who was present at the feast day, for all her help and love offered to the Romanian faithful of New York. Likewise, Father Abbot Protosyngellos Ieremia thanked the delegation of fathers from Putna Monastery who will paint the church cupola, as well as priests, all the volunteers who each proved to be indispensable, and also the faithful who participated in large numbers despite the poor weather. The joy of the feast day continued, as always, with an agape meal and an artistic program, to which all those present were invited. Glory to God for all things!