Preparations Underway for the Canonization of Two Romanian Athonite Elders

The Synod of the Metropolis of Muntenia and Dobrudja met on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, in a working session, in the Synodal Hall of the Patriarchal Residence in Bucharest. Hierarchs from the suffragan dioceses of this metropolis participated in the meeting chaired by Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The agenda included the presentation of some liturgical texts that will accompany canonization proposals, as well as administrative topics that fall under the attributions of this ecclesiastical forum.

Patriarch Daniel presented the agenda, which included the presentation of the liturgical texts that will accompany the proposal for the canonization of Venerables Dionisie Ignat and Petroniu Tănase.

Explanations and Clarifications of Ecclesiastical History and the Deontology of the Ukrainian Issue (Part 10)

Archbishop Petru of Bessarabia

...continued from part nine.

* Let us proceed to some of their other movements, which show a purely political and secular sense of the mystery of the Church. They recently awarded Irinej of Bačka of the Serbian Patriarchate the title of Honorary Doctor at the Theological Academy of St. Petersburg. They have published numerous photographs on the internet, insisting in every way to influence the public opinion in Greece that they also have theological academies, which are accepted by the other Churches, and that they have something that measures a mature scientific theological education in their country.

* The bearers of the Muscovite ecclesiastical policy (from 1948 onwards, as the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos writes) do not hesitate to cooperate even with Catholic priests. Initially, the Minister of Foreign Affairs presented a distinguished Catholic theologian clergyman at the Theological Academy of Moscow as a distinguished scientist (until this point, I present no blame), and the next day at the Divine Liturgy he was received as a protopriest who co-liturgized with Orthodox clerics. In other words, they promote advanced practices in inter-Christian relations without fundamental barriers.

Monk Ghenadie of Neamt, Who Died on his Knees in Prayer at the Age of 96

 

Monk Ghenadie of Neamt Monastery in Romania was born on 19 May 1927 and reposed on 3 September 2021. He was found in his monastic cell dead on his knees while in prayer.

Iconographer Daniel Codrescu, the artist who created the mosaic works at the Cathedral of the Salvation of the Nation, had a meeting with Monk Ghenadie at the Neamt Monastery on August 21, 2021.

After making his portrait on the bench on which he usually sat, with his eyes looking at the crowds of believers, he said to him: “Pray for me that God will end my good life and remember me.”

"He went to the Lord on his knees in prayer on September 3, and the funeral service will be on Tuesday at the Neamt Monastery, at 10 o'clock. God grant him rest among the righteous!", Daniel Codrescu transmitted, and published as a tribute the sketches from that August day, which we reproduce.

 

 

 

 

 

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"How the Holy Hierarch Dionisie of Suruceni Healed My Little Boy"

Below is the testimony of a mother from Romania whose little boy was healed of an inability to walk or speak after receiving Holy Communion and venerating the relics of the recently canonized Saint Dionisie Erhan (commemorated on September 17). This miracle took place in October 2020.

Today, I want to let you know about the miracle that happened at the Suruceni Monastery with Mihai, who upon touching the relics of the Holy Hierarch Dionisie, began to speak.

My name is Maria. I'm from Orhei. Mihai was born healthy. At one year and a month he started walking, he spoke well. After receiving the last MMR vaccine at the age of 2, he stopped walking and stopped talking.

I hastened, first, to all kinds of doctors in the country, but to no avail. Then, staying in the United States and studying there, I took my child to good doctors in the states. One treatment after another treatment. At certain periods he was analyzed, etc.

All attempts to save my child proved futile.

Museum Dedicated to the Great Romanian Theologian Fr. Dumitru Staniloae Established in Bucharest

 

 

The great Romanian theologian of the 20^th century now has a museum in the heart of Bucharest, near kilometre zero. 

 

The museum dedicated to Father Staniloae was set up by the Old St George Parish and is located on the ground floor of the parish house in the courtyard.

 

Parish Priest Sorin Tancău explained to Basilica.ro where the idea for the project came from and presented some important aspects regarding the usefulness of the museum.

 

“The initiative to organize a parish museum started from the fact that the famous theologian lived for a long time in that space with his wife and daughter, Lydia, starting in 1947.”

Saint Kyriakos of Bisericani (+ 1660)

St. Kyriakos of Bisericani (Feast Day - October 1 and December 31)

Venerable Kyriakos of Bisericani is one of Romania’s greatest ascetics, and in his life he was like the great Fathers of the Egyptian desert.

He lived in the Bisericani Monastery in Neamt at the beginning of the seventeenth century, which then had more than a hundred monks. Longing for a life of solitude, Saint Kyriakos went to live in a cave at Mount Simon and remained there for sixty years.

The Romiosini of 1821 and the Great Powers (6 of 11)

...continued from part five.

19. Greek Television Promotes the Russian Plan

Indeed, every week Greek television presents a forged movie of Papadiamantis' The Gypsy Girl, which depicts Greeks before the Fall of Constantinople in Peloponnesos as seemingly being enslaved in Romiosini.(13) In order for people to not become indignant by this, the Romans are called Byzantines. Therefore, Greek television teaches our children through this movie that Greeks were enslaved in Constantinople and that the Hagia Sophia of Justinian the Great was a church of the enemies of the Greeks.

The Rise and Spread of the Veneration of Saint Nektarios in Romania

SAINT NEKTARIOS, THE ‘MIGRANT’ SAINT:

FROM THE GREEK AEGINA TO THE ‘ROMANIAN AEGINA’

By Irina Stahl

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been a sustained migration of relics from Greece to Romania. The process is due to a propitious combination of factors relating to the religious revival in Romania since the fall of communism, the tightening of relations between the two churches and the recent economic crisis. Many tiny fragments of the body of a twentieth-century Greek saint, Nektarios, are today cherished by Romanian devotees who have adopted him as one of their own saints. From this perspective his case represents what could be called a success story of integration. He is the example par excellence of migrant human remains, since the spread of his remains is the result of his own posthumous wish; migration was his choice. As in the case of people, the principal choice for the migration of relics is to large cities, ‘centres of religious transformation’ that capture ‘the new spirit of the century and the new spirit of the Church’ (Le Bras). The cult of Saint Nektarios started in Bucharest; it later also developed in Iaşi and it is from these two cities that it has further radiated through the country. Being in many respects a modern cult, it is a good illustration of the study of religion within the current Romanian urban environment. This article deals with the circumstances of the migration of these relics, the cult as a propagation mechanism, the channels of diffusion and the players involved in the process. It also considers the reasons behind the migration, the network, the integration process and the new solidarities created. Special attention is given to the way devotees relate to the relics and the ritual behaviour involved. In the conclusions, the main characteristics of this cult will be underlined and it will be put into a broader, regional context.

Read the Article Here

Holy New Hieromartyr Anthimos the Iberian, Metropolitan of Wallachia (+ 1716)

St. Anthimos the Iberian (Feast Day - September 27)

Saint Anthimos was born in Georgia, and his parents were called John and Maria. The child received the name Andrew in Baptism, and his parents raised him in piety as an Orthodox Christian.

Andrew was captured by Turks who invaded Georgia when he was young, and he was one of many who were made slaves in Constantinople. There he learned to speak Greek, Arabic, and Turkish, and also became skilled in woodcarving, embroidery, and painting. After a few years as a slave, Andrew escaped and fled to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for refuge.

Holy Hierarch Gelasius from Ramet Monastery

St. Gelasius of Ramet (Feast Day - June 30)

Saint Gelasius (Ghelasie) was the abbot and founder of the Ramet Monastery in Transylvania. He had lived as a solitary near Ramet Creek, and he was granted the grace of working miracles.

The Saint fasted on weekdays, eating only on Saturdays and Sundays, and his only food was the Divine Eucharist. During the day he fulfilled his monastic obediences, and at night he kept vigil.

Queen Marie of Romania, the First Woman to Enter the Great Meteoron at Meteora

Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938) was "one of the world’s most celebrated royals” and ”the Princess Di of her day”, as People magazine called her in 1985.

Among her achievements, one can count being the very first royal woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine (the cover of 4th of August, 1924), the first woman to be appointed corresponding member of the French Academy of Beaux Arts, and the first woman to ever reach the Great Meteoron Monastery.

The Weeping Icon of the Mother of God of Socola (1854)

Socola Icon of the Mother of God (Feast Day - February 1)

This icon of the Mother of God was in a church in the Orthodox Theological Seminary at the Romanian Socola Monastery in Iasi. In February 1854, it gained renown for the remarkable miracle of shedding tears.

Following the Divine Liturgy served on February 1 in the seminary church, a frightened member of the clerical staff ran up to Hieromonk Isaiah, the ecclesiarch, and said that the icon of the Mother of God was weeping. Several of those serving immediately ran to the church. There they all clearly witnessed, still wet, tears running down from the eyes of the Mother of God.

Holy Hieromartyr Montanus and Maxima his Wife

Sts. Montanus and Maxima (Feast Day - March 26)

The Holy Martyrs Montanus and Maxima were a married priestly couple who lived in Singidunum (present-day Belgrade in Serbia) in the fourth century during the time of Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians. The Emperor’s deputy, Galerius, issued an edict requiring Christians to offer sacrifices to the idols. The pious couple refused, and continued to conduct their lives according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They traveled to Sirmium (west of Belgrade) in order to distance themselves from the seat of power. However, in the year 304, they were seized by Roman soldiers and brought to stand trial before Governor Probus.

The Tunnel of 365 Saints at Straja Hermitage

A 54-m long tunnel, on the inside of which 365 saints from the Orthodox Christian calendar are painted, one for each day of the year, is one of the main attractions of the Straja mountain resort in the Jiu Valley.

September 18, 2014

Agerpres

Renowned for the high quality of its ski slopes, the resort of Straja is a place full of surprises for the travelers who choose to climb the Valcan Massif following a county road that starts at Lupeni and reaches an elevation of 1,440 meters.

The Soccer Player Who Became Paralyzed and Was Baptized Orthodox

Mihai Nesu was seriously injured on 10 May 2011 in a training session at the Dutch province of Utrecht. He collided with teammate Alje Schut and fractured a vertebrae in the cervical spine.

Nesu was left paralyzed from the neck down. At first he could move nothing but his eyelids. Then he started talking and slowly began to move his right arm. With this he can handle his wheelchair. From February 2012 he has been able to move his left hand.

The Cave of Saint John Cassian in Romania

It is believed by some that Saint John Cassian was born in the village of Casian in Constanta of Romania, which is why he is often referred to as a Scythian. In Dobrogea there is the Monastery of Saint John Cassian, built in 2001, and nearby is the Cave of Saint John Cassian, where it is said he lived for a short time as an ascetic at an early age.

The Wondrous Manner in Which the Monastery of Sihastria Accepted the New Calendar

The history of the Monastery of Sihastria after 1909 is closely tied with Chancellor Ioanichie Moroi (1859-1944), who revived the Monastery for the fourth time from the ashes. He was succeeded in 1944 by the greatest elder of 20th century Romania, Elder Cleopas Ilie, who made the Monastery of Sihastria one of the greatest spiritual centers of modern Romania.

One of the biggest tests the chancellor Ioanichie Moroi had to face in Sihastria, had to do with the change of the calendar in October 1924. Barely three years as abbot, he didn't want to change the calendar and follow the new one. He was afraid he would make a big mistake. To this affect, numerous monks and spiritual fathers advised him not to change the calendar.

Saint Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople, and the Wonderworking Icon of Lydda

St. Germanos of Constantinople (Feast Day - May 12)

Saint Germanos was born in Constantinople around 640 and was the son of the patrician Justinian. At the age of twenty he was orphaned, when his father was executed by Emperor Constantine IV the Pogonatos (668–685), because he was considered to be involved in the murder of his father Constans II.

Germanos, after being castrated, was placed among the clergy of the Great Church. He served with zeal in the study of the sacred letters, became deeply knowledgeable of them, and was distinguished for his holiness of life and his virtue. After visiting Jerusalem and worshipping at the sacred sites of the Holy Land, he returned to Constantinople and was ordained a priest. In 709 he was elected by Patriarch Cyrus to be the Bishop of Kyzikos. From this high position he fought strongly against the heresy of the Monothelites. When Patriarch Cyrus was deposed and his successor John VI died, he was chosen with the praise of Emperor Anastasios to be the Patriarch of Constantinople on August 9, 715.

A Miracle on the Day of the Three Hierarchs in Communist Romania

Fr. Ilie Lacatusu

By Elder Justin Parvu († 2013)

We stayed with Fr. Ilie Lacatusu († 1983) four years in Periprava at the Danube Delta.

He was generally distinguished for his internal strength and silence. Rarely did you hear him speak, and when you did he had something important to say.

Frequently he exhorted us to pray when we were in a dangerous situation. This man I must say was truly humble. He never wanted to come to the surface, but always tried to remain unnoticed.

I remember a miraculous event that took place at the Danube Delta, in which Fr. Ilie played a significant role.

A Romanian Hut Dweller Who Built 3 Churches and Lives Underground

Father Joel, from Preutesti in Suceava County of Romania, is a true example of humility for those around him.

Though he is the founder of three churches, he himself lives in an extremely poor hut.