The Union of the Romanian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, on January 24, 1859, marked the culmination of an entire process of cultivating the national unity of Romanians, a process in which the Romanian Orthodox Church made an essential contribution, affirms the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, in a message dedicated to the celebration, on Saturday, of 167 years since the Union of the Romanian Principalities.

'Through hierarchs, ordained priests, monks and lay theologians, the Romanian Orthodox Church contributed, both in Moldova and in Wallachia, to this fundamental act of our history. On the well-known Hill of the Metropolitanate in Bucharest, next to the historic Patriarchal Cathedral, is the site of the former building of the Metropolitanate of Wallachia, where the works of the Elective Assembly of 1859 took place, which on January 24 elected the Prince of Moldavia Alexandru Ioan Cuza and Prince of Wallachia, thus bringing about the Union of the two Romanian Principalities. Before the election, the members of the Elective Assembly swore on the Holy Gospel and the Holy Cross, before the icon of the Holy Trinity, that they would vote for the Union of the Romanian Principalities,' the Patriarch said on Thursday.

The Union of the Romanian Principalities, begun in Iasi on January 5, 1859 and completed in Bucharest on January 24, 1859, is not the 'Small Union', as it is sometimes called, but the 'Basic Union', the Patriarch pointed out.

'This is because it constituted the foundation for the formation in 1862 of the Romanian state, called Romania, the foundation for obtaining Romanian national independence following the War of Independence in 1877, the foundation for raising Romania to the rank of Kingdom in 1881 and especially the foundation for the Union of December 1, 1918, from Alba-Iulia, as the Union of Transylvania with Romania, preceded by the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, on March 27, 1918, and the Union of Bukovina with Romania, on November 28, 1918,' explained His Beatitude.

For the Church, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church emphasized, the Union of the Romanian Principalities was the foundation for the official recognition of the Autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1885, and the Union of December 1, 1918, constituted a favorable element for the elevation of our Church to the rank of Patriarchate in 1925.

'For all the benefits of the Union of the Romanian Principalities, today we give thanks to God, glorified in the Holy Trinity, and we remember with gratitude Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Metropolitan Nifon of Wallachia, Metropolitan Sofronie Miclescu of Moldavia, and all those who contributed to the achievement of the Union of the Romanian Principalities. We pray to God to help us preserve and cultivate the gift of national unity, obtained with many sacrifices and many spiritual and material efforts, for the glory of the Holy Trinity and the good of the Romanian people,' Patriarch Daniel also conveyed.

The hierarchs, priests and deacons of the Romanian Orthodox Church will officiate, on Saturday, on the 167th anniversary of the Union of the Principalities, a Te Deum service in all the churches of the Romanian Patriarchate and at the end the bells will be rung for one minute.

According to a press release from the Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate, on Saturday, on the Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities, starting at 9:30, the Holy Liturgy will be celebrated at the Patriarchal Cathedral, where Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Metropolitans Nifon Rusaila of Wallachia and Sofronie Miclescu of Moldova, as well as all the creators of the Union of the Romanian Principalities, will be commemorated.

At 11:00 a.m. the Te Deum service will be celebrated, followed by the word of the serving hierarch.

According to Law 215/2016 on official ceremonies and Holy Synod Decision No. 6,312/2022, liturgical services will be performed by clergy and civil and military authorities will lay wreaths at monuments.

The celebration of the Union of the Romanian Principalities and the commemoration of its creators constitutes a solemn act of gratitude, through which the candle of our national unity and dignity is kept burning, the Patriarchate reports.

The anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities on January 24, 1859 became a National Holiday by Law no. 171/2014, and in 2016, by promulgating the amendment to art. 139 of Law no. 53/2003 on the Labor Code, it was declared a legal National Holiday, on which no work is done.AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Popescu, editing by: Florin Marin; EN - writing by: Catalin Cristian Trandafir)