His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel consecrated the new church of Izbuc Monastery in Bihor County on Saturday. The event was part of the 340th anniversary of the first documentary attestation of the Orthodox Diocese of Oradea, 325 years since the diocese and its hierarch were mentioned in the Diploma of the Austrian Emperor Leopold I, and 100 years since the re-establishment of the diocese after Romania’s Great Union.
On Saturday morning, at Izbuc Monastery, His Grace Bishop Sofronie of Oradea celebrated the Divine Liturgy at an open-air altar. A total of 15 hierarchs concelebrated. At 11:00, Patriarch Daniel officiated the consecration service of the new church, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and St. Nectarios of Aegina.
The church, also called the “Cathedral of the Codru Moma Mountains”, has as architectural model the church of the Ravanica Royal Monastery in Serbia (1377) and was built at the initiative of His Grace Bishop Sofronie. The foundation stone was laid in 2010.
Izbuc Monastery, located at the foot of the Codru Moma Mountains, about 100 kilometers away from the city of Oradea, is known for the spring that gushes forth intermittently between the stones and whose waters are healing. In the Golden Book of the monastery are recorded messages of thanks of those who have been healed over time, including incurable diseases, after drinking this water.
This year, the monastic settlement celebrates 92 years since its re-foundation by the Bishop of the reactivated Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Oradea, Roman Ciorogariu (1920-1936).
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
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