Spirituality

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

For actor Jonathan Jackson, embracing Orthodoxy was not just conversion, it was “coming home”

American actor Jonathan Jackson granted to TRINITAS, the Television of the Romanian Patriarchate, an interview about his conversion to Orthodoxy and how he lives faith. Asked to describe Orthodoxy in three words at most, the actor chose “coming home”. He added: “to a place we’ve always known. I don’t really look at this like I’m…

Sep 18, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Life of Saint Paisios to become TV series

The life of Saint Paisios is about to become a TV series. Saint Paisios lived most of his life in Konitsa and became a monk in the Holy Monastery of Panagia in Stomion. The shooting in Konitsa has already started, Orthodox Times reports. It is a production of a large company in the film industry…

Sep 18, 2020Iulian Dumitraşcu

The making of the movie about St Nektarios: How were the actors chosen

The second round of location shooting for Man of God, the movie about St. Nektarios of Aegina, is scheduled for the first part of September in Greece. Yelena Popovic, the movie producer, director and writer, told Greek journalists how she chose the actors. The saint is played by Aris Servetalis (Greece), who was the best…

Sep 7, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

The Lamentations of the Dormition of the Theotokos

FIRST STASIS In a grave they laid you yet, O Christ, you are life and they now have laid the Mother of Life as well: both to angels and to men a sight most strange!   We exalt you greatly, Theotokos most pure, and we glorify your holy dormition now, as we bow before your…

Aug 13, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Presbytera Petronela Bărăscu: We have received life as a gift; we owe to cherish it as time of salvation

Presbytera Petronela Bărăscu has expressed her gratitude for all the good things she received from God, the most precious of which are life and family. Before the one year memorial of her husband, the former parish priest of Parava parish in Bacău County, she wrote on Facebook: “We have received life as a gift, we…

Aug 11, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

The Dormition Fast | Resources

The Feast of the Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is celebrated on August 15 each year. The Feast commemorates the repose (dormition and in the Greek kimisis) or “falling-asleep” of the Mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Feast also commemorates the translation or assumption into heaven of the…

Aug 5, 2020Gheorghe Anghel

A 1938 homily by St. Nikolai Velimirovic was discovered in Serbian monastery

St. Nikolai (Velimirović) is revered as one of the greatest saints of the 20th century. His gift for fiery and inspiring preaching earned him the moniker of “Serbia’s Chrysostom.” Now, another example of his eloquence has been unearthed, as a manuscript of a previously unknown homily was discovered in Studenica Monastery in Brezova, Serbia, reports…

Jul 31, 2020Gheorghe Anghel