An open gate to Heaven: the patron saint of the Romanian Orthodox Parish "St. Veronica", Coventry, Great Britain
by Arina Cîrstea
"And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts." (Matthew 8:34)
I have repeatedly heard this gospel text during the Holy Mass, and it has almost always made a special impression on me. On the one hand, the simplicity of this social context, the politeness with which the request is formulated I awaken the feeling that by seemingly minor decisions we could barely perceptibly exile God from the "city" of our existence. I am constantly struck by the contrast between the banality of this request and the complexity of its ontological consequences, both individually and socially, from the point of view of the Gadarenes' community (or, in other sources, of the Gherghesians), which came to symbolize the opacity of the human being. to the Christ message. On the other hand, the question naturally arises whether this human limitation can be overcome, and what would be the forms of manifestation of this overcoming.
Perhaps there is no universally valid answer to this question, and identifying an appropriate solution to personal circumstances could be an essential step in the spiritual trajectory of each of us. Browsing Patericul, it is interesting to note that a relatively wide range of formative models can be found even among the parents of the first Christian centuries, who, as the editor Cristian Bădiliţă points out, adopted different monastic lifestyles, ranging from absolute isolation exemplified by " the anchorage of Anthony the Great ”to an intense community life, or, in specialized terms,“ the Pahomian cenobitism, specific to Upper Egypt ”. To us, in the contemporary context, this path of monastic devotion is perhaps less accessible to us; Consequently, we prefer the method of small steps, in which the opening of the gates of the "fortress" becomes a daily gesture, which intersects with the other small gestures of our existence.
Five years ago, Father Cornel Grecu, from the city of Coventry (UK), set out on such a small step, initially founding an Orthodox parish with the support of a small number of believers. A simple, natural gesture, lost in the multitude of events of the urban conglomerate of which we are part. However, for those present 5 years ago, a significant gesture of affirmation of the intention, at least, to keep open the door to receive the Christ message in the life of each of us. Subsequently, the number of those who participated in the services officiated in this parish was substantially enriched, and with this numerical expansion, there was a more difficult development to quantify, which manifests itself in the diversification of Christian ways of life, the meanings that each among us we associate them with belonging to this community, or with participation in the liturgical act. This diversity confers the specificity of a community which, like the Egyptian monastic communities mentioned above (maintaining, of course, the strict comparison in this respect), is limited in material resources but unexpectedly rich in spiritual resources.
On Sunday, July 10, 2017, on the occasion of the celebration of the fifth patron saint, the value of the capital of this parish multiplied by the presence of His Eminence Bishop Ignatie Mureşanu and a group of prelates and believers from neighboring Romanian parishes. In his sermon, His Holiness Ignatius interpreted the evangelical pericope mentioned above, proposing two other important perspectives from which it might be relevant in trying to keep alive the flame of the divine presence in the lives of contemporary Christian communities. First, the situation of the demonized in the biblical text (the only one in the Gospel of Mark 5: 4), who had his "dwelling in the graves" which characterizes us whenever we are dominated by dark passions, which undermine our will, limit our freedom to make decisions and disfigure our identity. It is significant, in this sense, that in the Gospel of Mark (5:15) it is reported that, after Jesus offers him healing, the demon-possessed regains his “garment” of social being; he is presented "sitting down, clothed and whole in mind", thus reintegrated into the community that was previously inaccessible to him. Consequently, His Holiness Ignatius emphasized, the solution to liberation from this degradation consists in receiving the Christ message, by participating in the Holy Liturgy and communion; this message helps us to be aware of the negative consequences of our own actions and to get rid of the "threads by which we are bound to the evil one."
Secondly, PS Ignatie drew attention to the degrading state of the whole community of Gadarenes citizens, who by the act of denying the Savior's access to their city, demonstrate their inability to share in the joy of their neighbor. Their attitude is justified by the fact that they place the material (the financial capital represented by the herd of pigs) and the quantitative (the important number - "as in two thousand" (Mark 5:13) - of lost animals) above the spiritual and qualitative - the value of the soul. human being who was saved by the act of Christ. For this reason, it is obvious that they too have undergone a process of dehumanization, like the demonized, and are equally incapable of distinguishing the level of degradation in which they find themselves.
Another interesting aspect to note seems to me the attitude of the Savior to respectfully observe the decision of this community, despite its negative consequences and the fact that, obviously, this decision reflects unwarranted hostility in response to his humanitarian gesture. In the Gospel text, the Savior does not protest, does not try to convince the Gadarenes of the seriousness of the error he is committing and especially does not try to impose his presence on them. Nor is the symbolic gesture of urging his disciples to shake off the "dust off their feet" (Luke 9: 5) at the exit from this city, which appears in other contexts, mentioned here. He prefers to act gently and tactfully, discreetly planting the seeds of faith through the demonized one whom he denies the request to join, thus implicitly assigning him to a missionary role (Mark 5:19).
Returning to the context of the patron saint of the parish of "St. Veronica", I would mention the suggestion of St. Ignatius that, as St. Veronica is represented as the keeper of the image of the Savior, the members of this parish are called to assume the symbolic mission of keeping the image of Christ. of us. In this way, in the face of the human limitations we inevitably face, the social and spiritual space thus created can discreetly represent a seed capable of bearing fruit, an open door to Heaven, a way to recover our authentic identity. .