Lumina pascală pentru românii din Emiratele Arabe Unite
The Holy Light of Easter for the Romanians in the United Arab Emirates

Summary/Abstract: With the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, several reglious services were held for the feast of Lord Jesus Christ’s Resurrection in the Romanian community on the territory of the United Arab Emirates. In the context created by the ongoing pandemic, this year’s mission unfolded under special circumstances, in keeping with the restrictions imposed by the Emirates’ Government. Having secured a special authorization from the local authorities, the holy services for the Lord’s Resurrection and the Holy Liturgy were officiated on the Great and Holy Saturday at the Russian Orthodox church in Sharjah Emirate. The services were attended by numerous Romanian, Moldavian, Greek, Serbian and Ukrainian Orthodox believers, as well as the consul- general of Romania in Dubai, Ms Nicoleta Alina Teodorovici. Since 2007, missions have been organized for the Romanian community in the United Arab Emirates, with Romanian priests delegated by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel to celebrate the great feasts of Orthodoxy there. Due to the increasing demand and the ever greater challenges faced by spiritual life, we began proceedings for the establishment of the Romanian Orthodox Parish in Dubai – a dream come true with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel and the approval of the Holyl Synod, in June 2021, the year declared by the Romanian Patriarchate as Solemn Year dedicated to the pastoral care for Romanians abroad. The young theologian Alexandru Cristian Trușcan, who has always accompanied the author of the present paper to the Emirates, as church chanter, has been appointed by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel and ordained as the parish priest for the newly-established Romanian Parish in Dubai, placed under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (patronal feast on 8 September) and Saint Isaac the Syrian (28 January).

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