Mons, Belgium: Commemorative service for the Romanian soldiers

On Thursday, June 6, 2019, Orthodox Christians worldwide celebrated the Ascension of the Lord. In the Romanian Orthodox Church this feast day is also a commemoration day of all the heroes of the nation.

In Belgium, this occasion was marked at the Military Cemetery in Mons, where a commemorative service was served by Rev. Fr. Gabriel POP, from the staff of the Representation of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions, near the tombs of the 8 Romanian soldiers burried here in 1914, during The First World War. The service was attended by Mr. Valer-Daniel BREAZ, the Romanian Minister for Culture and National Identity, as well as by military personnel from Romania's National Military Representation to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and diplomatic personnel from the Romanian Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium.

The religious service was followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the tombs of the soldiers who perished in fight for their country in this part of the continent.

The Military Cemetery in Mons was established in 1914 and comprises the tombs of more than 500 soldiers, most of them British or Germans, which have fallen during the fight that took place in the area in August that year.