ÎPS Irineu, Metropolitan of Oltenia and Archbishop of Craiova, said on Sunday, in a speech after the first service of the year, which he delivered in the Metropolitan Cathedral “Sfântul Dumitru” in Craiova, that the greeting “Happy Birthday!” it does not belong to the secular world, but to the church, because it concerns the Savior Jesus Christ, “He who has life and eternity in His hand.”

“This change of year does not mean transformation, but means a step forward to the Kingdom of God. Every time we say “Happy Birthday!”, we mean the Savior Jesus Christ, Who is the ruler of the ages, the ruler of the times. He is the one who makes our life go on and walk this way of the Kingdom. He is the one watching. So we don’t do this greeting because we hate it, but we call out to God, because what we are really saying is “Happy birthday, may life be in the divinity!”. This is the meaning of this greeting, which we practice not only now, in January, but always in our lives,” said ÎPS Irineu to those present at the New Year’s service, reports Agerpres.

The Metropolitan of Oltenia emphasized that this greeting does not belong to the secular world, but to the church, because it is connected with the One who has life and eternity in his hand. “So we wish (because of this greeting, no) that the one who is next to us will have many years in the Savior Jesus Christ, because our present is like the blink of an eye. If you look at the second hand of the watch, it will go out immediately. So our present is the blink of an eye, it is between the past and the future. This means that the present is a gift that God gives us for our souls, so that we, passing from this world, enter the eternal present. Let us not say that this is a greeting that belongs to the secular world. No! This greeting is deeply ecclesiastical. “Happy Birthday!” it is related to the One who has life in His hands, the One who has eternity in His hands. Therefore, we always proclaim the Kingdom of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we should also know what we are talking about,” explained ÎPS Irineu.

The head of the church in Oltenia also spoke about the Circumcision of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, which is also celebrated on January 1, which, according to him, is a holiday of greater significance from the old world, from the Old Testament, “about the relationship of man with God, but more the relationship a Jew with God”, which was replaced by our baptism. “What we remember from this celebration is, first of all, that the Savior Christ Himself obeyed the law and Himself showed that He took human form and was circumcised without sin, because circumcision is a symbol of sin. But the Savior Christ, because he had no sin, took our sins, took our weaknesses. But above all, this circumcision is connected with our baptism, because circumcision set the stage, and baptism lifted up. Therefore, Baptism is our dawn, our existence,” said ÎPS Irineu.

In the service of the first day of the new year in the Metropolitan Cathedral “St. Dumitra” in Kraiów, dedicated to the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and Saint Basil the Great, was attended by hundreds of faithful, the service was led by His Eminence Iriney, Archbishop of Kraiów and Metropolitan of Oltenia, surrounded by a council of priests and deacons.