The article briefly presents some important contributions of the late Transylvanian High Hierarch, Andrei Saguna, recently canonized, emphasizing his efforts to consolidate the Christian-Orthodox faith in Transylvania by cultivating the Romanian language for this purpose by supporting the dissemination and reading of the Scriptures in Romanian in the churches of his diocese, and by compiling his Compendium of Canonical Law, through which he thoroughly grounded the juridical organization of the Metropolitan Church of Transylvania and, in a more remote perspective, of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Keywords: - Andrei Saguna, canonical law, translation of the Bible, cultural mission

Regional bishop of Wittemberg-Halle, Germany

Location : - Germany
E-mail : -

The life of St. Saba the Goth was a subject in many Romanian theologians’ work, and continues to preoccupy us because it reveals a piece of the history of the penetration and consolidation of the Christianity in the area inhabited by our antecesors.
This article comprises the presentation of the Greek text of the Letter of the Church in Gothia to the Church in Cappadocia, with the Latin version of Acta sanctorum, a translation to Romanian and one to English, as well as some commentaries at the end. This Letter was partially published, the Greek text and a translation, in Fontes Historiæ Dacoromanæ, vol. II. It was also presented earlier, by the H. E. Bishop Gherasim of Timiş (1891). I considered that this text deserved a new full presentation, so it could be used in in the light of the advancements of the historical knowledge. The final commentaries in this article are just a preamble that invites ulterior discussions.

Keywords: - Saba the Goth, The Letter of the Church in Gothia, hagiography

Drugaş Şerban George Paul is an independent researcher, Phd since 2012 of the "Andrei Şaguna" Faculty of Theology at the "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu

Location : - Sibiu, România
E-mail : - serbangpdrugas@gmail.com

One of the primary challenges of the modern Christian life is to convey the content of faith kept in the Christian message so that it could be valued at the level of parish life. On the one hand, we observe more and more often that a part of the communication world in which we live, hides people by transforming them into communication avatars and no longer revealing the autonomy of personal thinking. In other words, the words have lost their humanity and humans have lost their words, despising them. On the other hand Word of God has become through the Incarnation of the Savior Jesus Christ the main force of development of the new life, culture of dialogue, communion and fellowship of the Christian Church. In the iconomia of our salvation Christ is the Word that calls for the breaking of bread (Luke 24:29-35) and is recognized not only in words but especially in the Eucharist. Thus, catechesis as form of building communication in the pastoral dimension of the human community falls perfectly into God’s way of communicating His will to men. It is a sort of arpeggio, an exercise to create a good experience at the time of the great concerts, setting the tone of the communication culture according to the Christian creative system.

Keywords: - internal logic a historical reality, global education, education of the priest or pastoral worker, didactic pastoral collective

Rev. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Constantin Necula, “St. Andrei Șaguna” Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Sibiu “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu

Location : - Sibiu, România
E-mail : - parintele_necula@yahoo.com

Karl Barth, one of the most important Protestant theologians of the twentieth century and even of the history of Protestantism, has beenwell-knownas a particularly prolific theologian and, at the same time, an original thinker, due to his specific theological ideas and conclusions, new even for Protestantism, with a special contribution to the Protestant theology and the directions of modern and contemporary Western Christianity. About Barth, the German theologian E. Jüngel stated that “death of Karl Barth puts an end to a period in the history of theology. Whether this end is today at the same time a beginning, we cannot say. The uncertainty does not lie in the theological work that Barth left behind. It lies in the power of understanding of our time, for which this great man is too simple, his simplicity is too great, his life and activity are too rich, and his rich work is too alive to know him enough. Greatness calls for distance, and here we can talk without embarrassment about greatness. Karl Barth has given a lot to his time. His time, however, took little from him. We can assume that the future of Karl Barth's theology is still ahead of us for a long time." However, Karl Barth is a very great Protestant theologian, exclusively trained in a Western theological space, and this context deprived him thoroughly of the possibility of knowing the thinking and patristic spirituality of the Eastern Church, with the depths and richness of the writings of the Church Fathers.

Keywords: - Basel, Protestantism, liberal theology, dialectic theology, KirchlicheDogmatik, ethics.

Pr. Dr. Mihail Iordache, parish priest at Olari Church, Bucharest

Location : - Bucharest, Romania
E-mail : - bisericaolari@gmail.com

Our spiritual resurrection began on earth on condition that we are partakers to the Lord’s Passion. The Life-giving Torment (νέκρωσις ζωοποιός) of the Lord takes place here in the one who "lets himself sacrificed and totally killed by killing his own will." The path of initiation in the Mystery of the Cross and Lord’s Resurrection is, for Saint Simeon, embodied in following and obeying his spiritual father - the icon of Christ . A Christian cannot partake of Christ's Resurrection but by participation to the Cross and His Death by cutting his own will and fulfilling His will. The God-bearing Father emphasizes the close link between Passion, Cross and Death of Christ and enhancing them personally by cutting will, stressing the key role of the spiritual father without whom no one can enter the Mystery of the Church as communion inthe Holy Sacraments is accomplished through the living ones . Based on his own experience in connection with his spiritual father, Our spiritual resurrection began on earth on condition that we are partakers to the Lord’s Passion. The Life-giving Torment (νέκρωσις ζωοποιός) of the Lord takes place here in the one who "lets himself sacrificed and totally killed by killing his own will." The path of initiation in the Mystery of the Cross and Lord’s Resurrection is, for Saint Simeon, embodied in following and obeying his spiritual father - the icon of Christ . A Christian cannot partake of Christ's Resurrection but by participation to the Cross and His Death by cutting his own will and fulfilling His will. The God-bearing Father emphasizes the close link between Passion, Cross and Death of Christ and enhancing them personally by cutting will, stressing the key role of the spiritual father without whom no one can enter the Mystery of the Church as communion inthe Holy Sacraments is accomplished through the living ones . Based on his own experience in connection with his spiritual father,
he testifies of the need to have a father to bring forth the Holy Spirit into our souls.

Keywords: - Symeon the New Theologian, Cross, Resurrection, spiritual father, mistagogy.

Fr. Herban Laurențiu Mihai, PhD at Ortodox Teological Faculty St. „Andrei Şaguna”, University „Lucian Blaga” Sibiu

Location : - Sibiu, Romania
E-mail : -

The second part of the study deals with the Cyrillic exegesis on a series of references from the sacrificial system of the Old Testament a fact accomplished by the offering/sacrifice of Christ on the cross. This is revealedby a special worship/ministry perceived as the restoration of the true worship/ministry manifested by the living kenosis of the Son of God. The peculiarity of this devotion, its specific features, as well as the nature of this identity of the Son, who becomes a priest and offering, forms here the framework of our preoccupation. All these elements are considered as a constituent part of the new relationship that the Christian has nowthrough Christ, respectively in the Church, as a new humanity.

Keywords: - St. Cyril, Christ, sacrifice, ministry/worship/devotion, High Priest, kenosis, slave/servant, economy, mind (nous).

Ioan Crişan, PhD Std. at Orthodox Faculty of Theology St. „Andrei Şaguna” from the University „Lucian Blaga” in Sibiu

Location : - Sibiu, Romania
E-mail : -

Préciser certains éléments d’ordre historique au sujet du „Trisagion pour les défunts”, provenant des manuscrits liturgiques – mais non seulement – c’est une démarche bienvenue aujourd’hui plus que jamais, puisque, d’une part, elle est en mesure de nous édifier sur la pratique d’autrefois de l’Eglise et, d’autre part, d’offrir une base solide aux éléments et aux actes de la pratique liturgique actuelle. En même temps, je veux mentionner aussi que l’approche de ces aspects est d’autant plus opportune que le „Trisagion” est, sans aucun doute, partie constitutive des rites funéraires.
Selon les indices offerts par les manuscrits, et non seulement par eux, le „Trisagion pour les défunts” est célébré à plusieurs moments de l’office de l’enterrement, mais, comme nous le verrons, il est bien difficile de déterminer avec précision certains aspects concernant tant le rituel que certaines particularités de sa structure.

Keywords: - Trisagion, défunts, tropaires, stichères, structure, rituel, tradition, manuscrits

Nicolae Preda, PhD Std. at Orthodox Teological Faculty St. „Andrei Şaguna” from the University „Lucian Blaga” in Sibiu

Location : - Sibiu, Romania
E-mail : -

This article introduces a modern edition of Romanian translation of the complete text of the famous Byzantine “Synodicon of Orthodoxy” based on the magisterial 1967 critical edition by Jean Gouillard, as well on the recent editions of the old versions published in 2016 by a group of scholars in the new corpus Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta (COGD) and on the important editions and studies of the old Slavonic translation published in 2011 and 2103 by A. Totomanova and I. Biliarsky. Following the complex history of the manuscript tradition, the article highlights the fundamental significance of this important liturgical and dogmatic text as a unique source for the understanding and interpretation of Byzantine Orthodoxy and Orthodox identity.

Keywords: - Synodikon of Orthodoxy, confession of faith, theological culture, Byzantine Orthodoxy

Archdeacon. Dr. Ioan I. Ica jr, professor at "Andrei Şaguna" Theology Faculty of "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu

Location : - Sibiu, Romania
E-mail : - dcisis@rdslink.ro

This paper presents the first translation into Romanian of the homily In lotionem pedum of bishop Severian of Gabala. In the introduction are mentioned difficulties of authorship and integrity of the text. It is also underlined that this homily is one of the most important sources for the celebration of the Holy and Great Thursday in Constantinople at the beginning of the 5th century.

Keywords: - Severian de Gabala, CPG 4216, spălarea picioarelor, Joia Mare

Father Radu Gârbacea, assistant professor at "Andrei Şaguna" Faculty of Theology at the "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu

Location : - Sibiu, Romania
E-mail : - radu_garbacea@yahoo.com