A new Orthodox chapel is under construction at a major oncological institute in the Romanian capital.
The foundation stone of the future church, which will be consecrated in honour of the Life-giving Spring of the Mother of God and St. Nectarios the Wonderworker of Aegina, was laid and blessed by His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova on Saturday.
The event was attended by medical and auxiliary staff of the Prof. Alexandru Trestioreanu Oncology Institute.
“The prayers we have offered show the great mystery of starting and working on a new church. They tell us about the gifts of God that are poured out with the building of a church,” His Grace preached.
“The Life-giving Spring is a pure spring, as once happened outside the walls of Constantinople, but also in every place where water is sanctified and where we ask for the rich gifts of God,” he emphasized.
Fr. Gheorge Subțirică, who has been serving at the Institute’s old chapel for seven years, has seen how important it is to have a church where people are suffering.
“A holy place will be a comfort to them and a strong spiritual and psychological support. In my experience so far, most of the cancer sufferers put their trust in God and in the work of the Church in the first place,” he reflected.
The Institute staff expressed their joy that a more suitable place for a new chapel has been found.
The future chapel will be the fortieth place of prayer in Bucharest hospitals.
In 2016, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania opened the Church’s first healthcare training school as part of the Theological Seminary of Metropolitan Niphon in Bucharest, also under the protection of St. Nectarios.
Photography courtesy of Lumina Newspaper
