Spirituality

We begin the Great Lent with hope and courage: #FearNot

#FearNot is the meditation-exhortation we propose to you for the Lenten season. Why? Because these are the first words that resounded after the Resurrection: the angel said these words to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb, and the Saviour addressed them directly to His disciples. The encouragement Christ gave centuries ago is timelier than ever,…

Mar 15, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Warsaw Metropolitan at beginning of Lent: Union with Christ through repentance is the path of the modern Orthodox in the fight against evil

“For Orthodox Christians in our complex, difficult times, full of spiritual disappointments, temptations and limitations of all kinds, Lent is of great spiritual importance,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Poland begins his Lenten epistle. Lent is a time for increased prayer and the struggle for purification, which give us renewed strength to struggle with the temptations…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Watch: Trailer for Man of God film on St. Nektarios released (video)

The official trailer for the long-awaited film Man of God, about St. Nektarios of Aegina, was released March 9. Watch the trailer below: Production company Simeon Entertainment describes the film: “Exiled unjustly, convicted without a trial, slandered without cause, yet his love for God and his fellow men conquered all. Man of God depicts the…

Mar 11, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

“Let us strive to be like God by sharing in the humility of Christ,” Putna’s Abbot urges

Humility is the first lesson presented to us in the period of the Triodion, leading up to Great Lent and Holy Pascha. Humility must be the foundation of our spiritual life, for virtues can be acquired only if we “strive to be like God by sharing in the humility of Christ,” Archimandrite Melchisedec, the abbot…

Feb 25, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

The ladder that is difficult to climb: Triodion calls us to humility, Bp Timotei says

His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Saturday at Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest. In his homily, he spoke about the spiritual significance of the Triodion. It calls us “to humility, which can exalt man to God,” he said. This path is like a ladder that is difficult to climb.…

Feb 22, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Dialogue between a deafblind girl and a priest: Ask Christ to help me for at least five minutes

Deafblindness is a severe multisensory deficiency that often generates significant communication difficulties, impairs access to information, orientation and mobility. A dialogue between Father Mirel Ilie, the coordinator of the hearing-impaired community in Bucharest, and a little girl suffering from this condition highlights how complex and sensitive the mission of the priest is: “We were at…

Feb 17, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

St John the New’s relics tour Suceava County to ward off coronavirus

The holy relics of Saint John the New of Suceava toured the Archdiocese of Suceava and Rădăuți at the beginning of this week ‘to bring again the belief that we are not alone and that the saints protect us and intercede with God on our behalf,’ assistant bishop Damaschin of Dorna noted in a message…

Nov 26, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

10 Saints Gregory in the calendar: How to tell them apart

The name Gregory is mentioned ten times in the calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church, four of which in November. Every time this name is linked to a saintly person who embraced the monastic life. Etymologically, the name Gregory comes from Greek and it means ‘vigilant,’ ‘watchful,’ ‘alert.’ The name also became associated with Latin grex (stem greg–)…

Nov 18, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

St Paisios of Neamt has founded a school of spirituality for whole Orthodoxy, Patriarch Daniel says during reliquary blessing service

Patriarch Daniel on Thursday blessed a processional reliquary containing a fragment of the relics of St Paisios of Neamț, saying that the Saint founded a school of spirituality useful for the whole Orthodoxy. St. Paisios of Neamț (Velichkovsky) organized and guided monastic communities at Dragomirna, Secu and Neamț monasteries in Romania. He translated the Philokalia…

Oct 16, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian actor Florin Piersic recounts being miraculously healed by St Paraskeva in his childhood

Romanian actor Florin Piersic told Doxologia.ro last Saturday how Saint Paraskeva of Iași miraculously healed him when he was a child, for his mother’s fervent prayers. The actor disclosed how attached he felt to the Church, his mother Vera being a priest’s sister.  The actor confessed he spent his childhood in an environment where the…

Oct 14, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

“Second youth, new choices”: Fashion designer Florin Dobre admitted to Bucharest’s Theology Faculty

Florin Dobre, the only Romanian fashion designer with collections featured in Vogue and GQ magazines, announced he was admitted to “Patriarch Justinian” Faculty of Theology in Bucharest. It was a sudden thought to become a Theology student. He disclosed it to his spiritual father, who gave him the blessing to go to the admission exam even though he…

Oct 9, 2020Ștefana Totorcea