Thoughts in autumn days

Apparently, we are touched by the syndrome of dissolution, of the conflict between

ideologies and sometimes we offend, we hurt one another. Can young people's innocence cure the
lack the grownups’ lack of cordiality? Can the generation of the 100-year-old Romania cure the
exodus of the young generation in search for a better life?
We are called upon to testify that, for the time being, the only institution which
encompasses our youth with all its ideals is the Church, no matter how difficult it might be for
some to believe that. Being called upon to testify the unity of a Nation, we do know that this unity
is born from the unity of Spirit in Christ, the Lord of our forefathers and ours. That does not mean
we do not enjoy being scientists or professionals working in today’s advanced industries sector, or
that we are not abreast of the times. No, Christ does not interfere with our plan to live as humans
in this world of ours. However, he demands that our humanity be lucid, realistic, a humanity
motivated by His Resurrection. What does this mean for the world we live in? How is the Unity
of a Nation connected to His Resurrection? God, who is contemporary with every generation, ours
included, reminds us that we are human only to the extent to which we remember to bring joy to
one another. This autumn of the Romanian Centennial, Sibiu will try to remind the young that God
is Joy, Unity, Holiness and that the Liturgy is a Gift through which all these are revived in our
consciousness. We do not know anything about the joy the upcoming autumn can bring. We only
know that the first Young Man invited to meet the Orthodox youth is Him, Our Resurrected, the
One and Living God. That will make all Joy truly possible!

The Holy Hierarch Andrei Șaguna, Metropolitan of Transylvania

God has always sent providential people where the need was most dire. Such a man was
the Holy Metropolitan Andrei Șaguna, a founder of faith and of culture, a man of prayer and an
unparalleled fighter for the dignity of the Romanians in Transylvania. In an age full of pain for the
Orthodox Romanians in Transylvania, Saint Andrei Șaguna was the burning candle that reignited
the vigil lamp of faith and hope in the heart of all oppressed Romanians.
Saint Andrei Șaguna’s name, celebrated by the Romanian Eastern-Orthodox Church on the
30th of November, means so many things that it is not an easy task to outline a succinct biography.
 His activity as a hierarch was outstanding, the greatest of his achievements being the re-
establishment of the Metropolitan See of Transylvania. As a man of culture, he printed numerous
religious books and became actively engaged in facilitating all Romanians’ access to knowledge.
At the same time, he was a supporter of philanthropic activities, urging parish priests to raise
money for the poor, establishing schools for the orphans, or donating the little money he himself
had.
He was born in 1808, in Miskolc, (in today’s Hungary), he studied philosophy and law at
the University of Pest, and, then, theology in Vârșeţ. He entered monastic life at Hopovo, the
Serbian monastery, and then he carried out many administrative functions within the Serbian
Eastern-Orthodox Church.
In 1846, after Vasile Moga, the Romanian bishop in Sibiu, had died, the Serbian Orthodox
Metropolitan in Karlowitz, Joseph Rajacic, appointed Archimandrite Andrei Șaguna vicar of the
vacant Diocese of Sibiu. He was ordained a bishop in the Orthodox Cathedral in Karlowitz, his
covenant being then to bring all Romanians in Transylvania closer to all that is good and uplifting.
The Romanian Orthodox Schooling, a priority in Metropolitan Andrei Șaguna’s agenda
Andrei Șaguna was completely involved in the revolutionary movement of the Romanians
in Transylvania. He co-chaired the Romanian National Assembly in Blaj, on May 3/15, where a
programme, containing 16 national-political claims, was drafted. Then, the Assembly appointed
him to lead a group of Romanian intellectuals who went to Vienna to submit the document to the
Imperial Court. Șaguna himself presented the program to the Emperor, who reassured him the
requests were to be addressed. Another important project on the Transylvanian Hierarch’s agenda
was the organization of the Romanian Orthodox Education in Transylvania at all levels.
Metropolitan Șaguna provided guidance for the entire Romanian educational system,
asking the teachers to write textbooks. Under his guidance, almost 800 schools were founded in
the Archdiocese of Sibiu, an extraordinary accomplishment considering that, at the time, there
were only 900 parishes. These schools were not coordinated by the Hungarian authorities, but by
the Eastern-Orthodox Church. A proof of his exceptional involvement in the development of the
educational system is found in his pastoral letters, in which insisted on the importance of erecting
buildings that were to be used as confessional schools.
Moreover, he created several foundations under the aegis of the Metropolitan See, through
which hardworking students received grants. Following his advice, a successful Macedo-
Romanian lawyer in Budapest, Emanoil Gojdu, eastabslihed a foundation through which students
and workers would receive grants. Over 5000 grants had been given before the Great Union in
1918.
He founded a diocesan typography where he printed over 200 books, and also the
“Romanian Telegraph “(“Telegraful Român”), a newspaper which is still in print today, as well as
the Ecclesiastical Guide, a calendar in book form.
A man of prayer
 Although his administrative activities took up most of his time, he always obeyed the rules
of monastic life, according to the testimonies of his contemporaries.
He attended the worship service throughout the day, not only the Liturgy, but also the
Matins and the Vespers. He used to correct the mistakes students were making during the service
in order to teach them and to prevent them from making the same mistake again.
In an interview, His Eminence Laurenţiu, Metropolitan of Transylvania, spoke about the
Saint Andrei Șaguna’s rigorous approach to prayer. He used to pray every morning from 5 to 7
and no one was allowed to disturb him. He led a simple life and that is how he wanted to leave this
world. He wished to be buried in the churchyard in Rășinari, where he had performed the divine
service so many times, “without grandeur, without music and without a sermon”, by one priest
only, namely hieromonk Gherman Bogdan, his confessor. His wish was carried out. The
metropolitan died on 16/28 June 1873, donating his belongings to the Archdiocese of Sibiu.
However, Romanians from all over Transylvania came to the funeral, to say farewell to the one
who had taken care of his spiritual sons like a true father.
Metropolitan Andrei Șaguna was very grateful to his mother for what she had given him:
“I owe to my mother all my love for God and my Orthodox belief, the path I took in my life
(priesthood) and my spirit of sacrifice which has always been my guiding light in everything I
have done so far”.
Shortly after his death, the peasants in Transylvania started to worship Metropolitan Andrei
Șaguna as a saint, according to writer Ioan Slavici, his portrait being hung next to the icons in their
homes. For being a model to follow, for his entire activity, the Holy Synod of the Romanian
Orthodox Church decided, during the meeting held on 20 July 2012, to canonize Metropolitan
Andrei Șaguna and thus to add his name to the long list of saints of the Orthodox Church. The
official proclamation of Metropolitan Andrei Șaguna’s canonization took place on 28 October
2011 in Sibiu, and it was decided to commemorate him on 30 November, along with Saint Andrew
the Apostle, the one who brought the Christian teaching on Romanian land.

About Sibiu
Sibiu is one of the most important cities in Transylvania. With 155,000 permanent
inhabitants and 25,000 temporary inhabitants, mostly students, Sibiu is the largest city in the
county. Most of the inhabitants are Romanians (94%), but Sibiu is also home for Germans,
Hungarians, Roma people and others.
The first documented mention of the region dates back to 20 December 1191 when Pope
Celestine III issued a document attesting to the existence of a free German provostship in
Transylvania, based in Sibiu. Mentioned as Hermannsdorf in 1321, Sibiu becomes a civitas in the
second half of the 14th century, the name Hermannstadt being used for the first time wit reference
to the city in a document issued in 1366.
 In the Medieval Age, Sibiu enjoyed a continuous economic development, especially due
to the activity of the guilds. Their first statutes (1376) enumerate as many as 19 guilds (of which
13 were active in Sibiu) with 25 crafts. The number of guilds gradually increased and in the second
half of the 16th century there were 29 guilds; in 1780, there 40 guilds, at a time when the role of
manufactories had already grown considerably.
Once the Turks had been defeated by the Austrians at the end of the 17th century,
Transylvania became a great principality of the Habsburg Empire with its capital in Sibiu. In 1688,
the Transylvanian Military Commander was installed in Sibiu and was based there until November
7, 1918. The administrative power of the new province was exercised by a government (gubern)
which was based in Sibiu between 1692 and 1791 and between 1850 and 1867. Sibiu was also the
residence of the Governor of Transylvania.
In the first half of the 19th century, a new wave of colonists, the Landler, settled around
Sibiu, the closest community being in today’s Turnișor, then Neppendorf. Gradually, the presence
of the Romanian population in the city becomes more and more vivid. As of 1761, Sibiu became
the most important religious and cultural centre of the Orthodox Romanians in Transylvania, and,
in 1864, Andrei Șaguna re-established the Transylvanian Metropolitan See in Sibiu. Sibiu thus
became, in the mid-19th century, the spiritual centre of the fight for national emancipation. In this
fight for national liberation, Simion Bărnuţiu drafted proclamation to the Romanian nation which
was read before the Assembly in Blaj. The Romanian National Committee was also established in
Sibiu chaired by Bishop Andrei Șaguna. In 1863, the Transylvanian Diet convened in Sibiu and
voted for the equal right of the Romanian nation and its confessions. Moreover, the Romanian
National Party, the most important political party in Transylvania, based in Sibiu triggered the
most significant social-political movement of the second half of the 19th century – the
Memorandum Movement, given the fact that, as of 1867, Transylvania became part of Hungary,
within the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
The second half of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century witnessed
unprecedented economic and social development in Sibiu. The urban, economic and social
development Sibiu was enjoying at the turn of the century was interrupted by the outbreak of
World War I. Sibiu also played an important role in the Union of 1918, and immediately after the
proclamation of the Union of Transylvania with Romania, on 1 December 1918, Sibiu became one
more time the capital of the province until the end of 1919, hosting both the Directing Council (the
Government of Transylvania) and the Grand Council (the Parliament of Transylvania).
The name of the city was officially changed to Sibiu in 1919.
The city has enjoyed a significant economic and cultural revival in recent years, being
today one of the cities with the highest level of foreign investment in Romania. Sibiu was also the
European Capital of Culture in 2007, in partnership with Luxembourg, being the first city in
Eastern Europe to receive this title.

Source: www.sibiu.ro