Twelve hierarchs and thousands of believers gathered last week at the Synaxis of the 12 Apostles Monastery in Bârsana in northern Romania to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ancient monastery’s revival.
His Grace Bishop Justin of Maramureș and Sătmar described the re-establishment of the monastery as “a love story between God and His people.”
“Reviving the monastery meant an act of justice. His Eminence Archbishop Justinian, a lover of monasticism and a monk par excellence, fulfilled the wish of the believers in Bârsana together with co-founder Father Gheorghe Urda and laid the foundation stone. What followed was a miracle,” Bishop Justin noted.
“In 1994, the nuns from Râmeț came, two nuns with experience and a long life in the monastery – Mother Filofteia and Mother Emanuela. They took over the monastery, and what can be seen today is due to them.”
“Everything is a love story between God and His righteous people, between monks, priests, hierarchs and the righteous people of Maramureș,” His Grace said.
Bârsana monastery is documented as far back as 1326. The monastery was known as a great centre of Orthodox spirituality.
After establishing the Romanian Uniate church in 1700, the monastery served as an impregnable fortress of Orthodoxy, and even under the pressure of the authorities, it managed to survive until 1791.
It became possible to revive the monastery only after the fall of the communist regime. The first service in the revived monastery was celebrated on June 30, 1993.
At the end of the service, the anniversary Act issued by the local diocese was read out. Abbess Filofteia was awarded both by the Church and state authorities, as was the monastery, and Bishop Justin was named an honorary citizen of Bârsana.
During the Divine Liturgy, the hierarchs wore vestments with folk motifs from the Maramures region offered to them by Bârsana Monastery.
Photography courtesy of the Diocese of Maramureș and Sătmar
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