Spirituality

Never say “I will do it tomorrow”: Elder Dionisie of Colciu’s 112th birth anniversary

September 22, 2021, marks 112 years since the birth of Elder Dionisie Ignat of Colciu Skete on the Holy Mount Athos, the one who said: “Never say ‘I will do it tomorrow’ because only the second we live is ours.” Father Dionisie Ignat was born on September 22, 1909, in Vorniceni commune, Botoşani county. At…

Sep 22, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanians offered Bulgarians a second vestment of St. Paraskeva and 30 tons of food

Over 30 tons of non-perishable foods and a vestment which covered for a while St. Paraskeva’s relics in Iași were delivered on Friday to Bulgarians in Ruse by representatives and volunteers of  Romanian organizations. The donation document for the saint’s vestment was signed by Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina. The gift was received by…

Sep 21, 2021Ștefana Totorcea

Jerusalem: The icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God carried in procession to her Tomb in Ghethsemane

Archbishop Dorotheos of Avela, Hegumen of the “Gethsemane” Metochion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, carried in procession on Wednesday morning the icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The traditional procession unfolded from the Holy Sepulchre to the Tomb of the Mother of God in the Ghetsemane Garden. Hagiotaphite hieromonks, monks,…

Aug 27, 2021Ștefana Totorcea

Banat Metropolitan asks believers to pray for the sick and medical staff for Dormition Fast

His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat has urged clergy and believers to offer prayers for the sick and the medical staff during the Dormition Fast. He recalled that fasting consists of “estrangement from sin, self-control of the tongue, the checking of anger.” “Established by our Holy Church, since the fifth century, in honour of the…

Aug 3, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Patron Saint of Infectious Diseases, Saint Nikephoros the Leper included in Romanian Orthodox Church’s calendar

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church resolved to introduce the name of Saint Nikephoros the Leper in its calendar. Orthodox believers have called for the intercession of a great number of wonderworking Saints during the coronavirus pandemic, but St Nikephoros the Leper was probably at the top of the list.  The Patriarch of…

Jul 26, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Untold Festival founder’s unspeakable quest stopped at Orthodoxy: It taught me to be myself

Sorin Gadola, the former financier of the major Untold Festival in Cluj, revealed in an event organized by the Archdiocese of Tomis the searches he went through in his troubled youth until he realized that Orthodoxy is the way. At the age of 21, he became ill and found no answer in classical medicine. “At…

Jul 21, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

6 interesting little-known things about the Romanian Saints

The Romanian Orthodox Church, by the decision of the Holy Synod in 1992, set aside the second Sunday after Pentecost as a special day for the commemoration of all Romanian Saints. “The known and the unknown, those who have been canonized and included in the church calendar and those who are not listed and who…

Jul 8, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Putna Monastery’s Abbot: Our holy ancestors speak to us this year and urge for a national resurrection

On Easter night, the V. Rev. Archimandrite Melchisedec Velnic spoke about the ancestors’ call for a national resurrection. But “a resurrection of the people cannot be achieved without God’s people,” said Mihai Eminescu. It will be possible only if we put Christ and His name in everything. This will enlighten each of us, and the…

May 5, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop Ieronim of Sinaia: The construction of the National Cathedral is a call and a still breeze of resurrection for our nation

The patriarchal auxiliary bishop Ieronim of Sinaia said on Bright Monday that “the wonderful work” carried out at the National Cathedral “is a call and a still breeze of resurrection for our nation.” During his homily at the Chapel of the National Cathedral, Bishop Ieronim referred to God’s “still breeze of resurrection” in the hearts…

May 5, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

#FearNot, put on the armour of St Stephen: the Cross and the fast

The Church has set a feast of the Holy Cross in the middle of Lent so that, looking to the sign of our Lord Jesus Christ’s victory over death, Christians may have courage in the face of any challenge. #FearNot is also the message that Basilica.ro insists on during this Lent. Looking at the Romanian…

Apr 7, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: Great Lent is also a quarantine

‘Some of you may wonder why the Church, in the midst of the current pandemic, would add to the already existing health restrictions yet another “quarantine,” namely Great Lent.’ “Indeed, Great Lent is also a quarantine, a period that lasts forty days,” wrote Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his catechetical message at the beginning of Great…

Mar 16, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu