Among the Orthodox believers who were at the Holy Liturgy, at the Archbishop’s Cathedral in Galati, on the Sunday of Saint Gregory Palamas, there was also George, a young man from distant and exotic India, a student of Medicine. The young man took refuge in Galati, together with several students from Ukraine, after the war started. Today he is a third-year student at the Faculty of Medicine of the “Dănărea de Jos” University.
After the prayer, after the sermon of the Most Reverend Father Cassian of the Lower Danube and the performance of the Holy Sacrament of Communion, upon exiting the beautiful Cathedral, the High Father Cassian introduced George to us as a young believer, of the Catholic confession. “Today, the Church of the West and the one to which George is a member celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. On Friday, when it was Good Friday in the Church of the West, George stayed for three hours and prayed, in his own language, ancient Sanskrit. In prayer, only him and God” said the Most Reverend Father Cassian.
An old friend of the Bishop of Lower Danube and the Cathedral of Galați, George comes from a family where his father is a jurist, his mother a teacher, and his grandmother was the director of a school in India.
As a sign of respect, together with our Bishop, with George, with several Ukrainian students, we sang – in the beautiful Galata Cathedral – the paschal hymn, “Christ is Risen!” – anthem with universal value.
At the bishop’s prompting, the young student from India sang “Sweet Jesus” in ancient Sanskrit. In the old Galața Cathedral, a voice from another space, from another time, like I have never heard before…
“And our young people can sing just as beautifully, if they are taught to do so during the seven years at home. We are not to blame God for our sins. We must do everything with a good heart, to be in the footsteps of Christ. From George, I learned to pray better. It matters how gentle you are when you pray”the Most Reverend Father Cassian told us.
And the Holy Liturgy in the Galata Cathedral did not end, but continues with emotion, peace, light, which we attached to our hearts…
