Anniversaries and commemorations

Blessed are the persecuted: May 14 – Remembrance Day for Communist Prisons Victims

On Wednesday, Romania commemorates the Day of Remembrance for the Martyrs of Communist Prisons, established by the Romanian Parliament in 2017, in honour of those who lost their lives due to inhumane treatment and torture in communist-era prisons. Those arrested by the communist regime were not only former politicians but also wealthy peasants, intellectuals, students,…

May 14, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Sibiu marks 119 years since Cathedral inspired by Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia was inaugurated

Tuesday marks 119 years since the inauguration of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Sibiu, according to Turnul Sfatului. The initiative to build the cathedral belonged to Saint Andrew Șaguna, who also made the most substantial financial contribution—2,000 florins. The winning design, titled “Constantine and Helen – Hagia Sophia,” was submitted by architect József Kommer of Budapest and…

May 13, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Assistant Bishop Marc of Neamț marks 20 years of episcopal ministry in Western Europe

Assistant Bishop Marc of Neamț of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western Europe celebrates on Wednesday 20 years since his episcopal ordination. His Grace Bishop Marc of Neamț was born in Paris in 1958 into a Catholic family, where he received a distinguished education, graduating from the Institute of Urbanism and the Faculty of Architecture…

May 7, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian confessor of faith and U.S. missionary Fr. Roman Braga remembered 10 years after passing

April 29 marks ten years since the passing of Archimandrite Roman Braga, a confessor of faith during communist Romania and later a spiritual father and missionary in Brazil and the United States. Father Roman Braga was born on April 2, 1922, in Condrița, Bessarabia, as the seventh child of Cosma and Maria Braga. He completed…

Apr 29, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

March 27, 1918: Bessarabia becomes first province to join Greater Romania

On March 27/April 9, 1918, Bessarabia united with Romania, becoming the first province to contribute to the creation of Greater Romania. Historical Context In the lead-up to the union, on February 25/March 5, 1918, the Protocol of Buftea was signed, extending the armistice with the Central Powers and accepting their imposed conditions. Around the same…

Mar 27, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

35 years since the reactivation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate in Romania

Sunday marked 35 years since the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate’s re-establishment under the Romanian Patriarchate’s jurisdiction. Following the fall of the atheist communist regime, Orthodox Ukrainians in Romania sought the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church to reinstate the Ukrainian Vicariate, which had been dissolved by the communist authorities in 1952. The initiative…

Mar 17, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Serafim of Germany marks 35 years of episcopal ministry

On Tuesday, March 11, His Eminence Metropolitan Serafim of Germany, Central, and Northern Europe celebrates 35 years of episcopal ministry. He was ordained as Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sibiu, bearing the title “Bishop of Făgărăș”, shortly after the fall of communism, on March 11, 1990. Early Life and Education Born on September 4,…

Mar 11, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Remembering Patriarch Iustin Moisescu on his 115th birth anniversary: A pillar of Romanian theological renewal

Wednesday marks 115 years since the birth of the late Patriarch Iustin Moisescu, who led the Romanian Orthodox Church as its fourth Patriarch. Born on March 5, 1910, in Cândești, then part of Muscel County (now Argeș County), he lost his father at a young age in the War of Reunification. Academic Excellence and Theological…

Mar 5, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop Siluan of Italy turns 55

On Wednesday, His Grace Bishop Siluan of Italy marks his 55th birthday. Born on March 5, 1970, in Gura Râului, Sibiu County, he was the fourth of six children in a priest’s family. Theological Studies and Early Ministry Between 1989 and 1993, he studied at the Andrei Șaguna Faculty of Theology in Sibiu, followed by…

Mar 5, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Miraculous Syriac Icon of the Mother of God marks 67 years at Ghighiu Monastery

On February 25, 1958, the miraculous “Syriac” Icon of the Mother of God was brought to Ghighiu Monastery by Metropolitan Basil Samaha of Sergiopolis from the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. For 67 years, many faithful who have prayed before the icon at Ghighiu Monastery have testified to receiving swift aid, healing, and…

Feb 25, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

140 years since the birth of Father John the Stranger, a key figure in the Burning Bush hesychast movement

One hundred forty years have passed since the birth of Father John the Stranger, a priest who introduced the Jesus Prayer to the Bucharest-based Burning Bush hesychast movement, as he had learned it from the elders of Optina Monastery. “John the Stranger” is the name by which Father Ioann Kulygin, born on February 24, 1885,…

Feb 24, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu