3 MINUTE DIN ORA DE RELIGIE | DESPRE PELERINAJ | 12 IULIE | TVR

TVR, UNIVERSUL CREDINŢEI, July 12, 2020 3 MINUTES FROM RELIGION HOUR A column created with the support of: religion professor Elena Bălan, religion professor Daniela Iuliana Grigorcea, religion professor Radu Ungureanu, deacon Daniel Cergan, religion professor Vasile Bogus, lecturer Dr. Oana Moşoiu Reading and graphics: Ligia and Florin Zărnescu Editor: Rafael Udrişte Director: religion professor Florin Zărnescu Human life is a continuous journey whose finality is the encounter with God. In this pilgrimage of earthly life, man seeks holiness in the places where the Mother of God, the saints, hermits or the great spiritual fathers of our Church endured. Going to worship in holy places means confessing your faith, praising God, thanking God, and receiving answers to the prayers we raise. Pilgrimage has a very long tradition. In the Old Testament, the patriarch Abraham set out, four millennia ago, with his entire family towards the land promised by God. Like Abraham, Moses also sets out on a long pilgrimage towards the Land promised by God. From the pages of the Gospel we learn that, since His earthly infancy, Christ was always a pilgrim: in Egypt, out of fear of Herod, to Nazareth, then to Jerusalem, together with the Holy Family, culminating in the last pilgrimage on the road to Golgotha, with the Cross behind them. Taking the divine example, the apostles and disciples also became pilgrims in the proclamation of the Gospel. Without modern means of travel, they crossed the entire East and West on foot from Jerusalem. The first Christian communities outside Jerusalem were thus the fruit of pilgrimage. Therefore, the first pilgrimage of the Christian is the journey every Sunday and feast day to the altars of churches and monasteries. The very construction of the church, the architecture and the painting prepare the way to the encounter with God. From the door to the Holy Table, the Christian is a pilgrim on a true mystical journey, accompanied by saints, angels and liturgical songs. Christ Himself is the way. Through pilgrimage, people take a time of reflection, prayer. By going to holy places, they take a model and inspiration for their lives, after the deeds of the saints. They recall their teaching and update it in their daily lives: to be just, humble, workers with deeds, fasting in speech, praying, having God as a reference point for life. The practice of pilgrimage has always been a real presence in the social life of our ancestors. The most famous pilgrimages in our country are those organized on the occasion of various religious holidays. Such is the date of August 7 when the believers of Moldova honor the Venerable Theodora of Sihla and go on pilgrimage to her cave and cell at the Sihla Hermitage. From here, one can easily reach the foundations of Saint Stephen the Great or the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași where the relics of the Venerable Parascheva are. On August 15, thousands of Orthodox pilgrims take the path of the holy monasteries that are dedicated to the "Assumption of the Virgin Mary", such as the Nicula Monastery or the "Saint Anne" Monastery in Rohia. In our country, there are monasteries that have entered the UNESCO heritage, being ornaments of religious architecture and painting. Such are the Horezu Monastery, the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the wooden churches in Maramureș or the Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches in Curtea de Argeș. There are numerous religious pilgrimage destinations in the world, but the most beloved by Christians are those at the Holy Places and those in Greece such as Mount Athos, the island of Eghina or the Monasteries of Meteora. The holiday is an opportunity to travel. Let's visit the saints at their homes and discover the beauties and tranquility of the monasteries.