Spirituality

Romanian Orthodox Bishop in Northern Europe issues seven Lenten guidelines for spiritual renewal

His Grace Bishop Macarie Drăgoi of Northern Europe has offered seven pastoral guidelines for spiritual renewal during Great Lent, urging the faithful to turn the fasting season into a time of reconciliation with God and neighbour, and of concrete solidarity with those who suffer. Ascetic struggle during Lent The bishop called believers to embrace ascetic…

Feb 27, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Petru says Great Lent re-places our being within the horizon of eternity

The season of Great Lent, which begins on Monday in the Orthodox Church, is a “time of inner examination, of clarifying the mind and of re-placing our being within the horizon of eternity,” Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia and Exarch of the Territories said in a pastoral message. “Beyond the outward exercise of bodily abstinence, we…

Feb 23, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Archbishop Atanasie says forgiveness is the key to Great Lent

“Whoever understands the mystery of forgiveness understands that the Lord came to wipe away the sin of this world,” Archbishop Atanasie of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said on Sunday in his message at the beginning of Great Lent. Referring to the well-known liturgical hymn “Open to me the doors of repentance,” chanted during the…

Feb 23, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop Ignatie urges digital detox as preparation for Holy Pascha

His Grace Bishop Ignatie of Huși on Sunday encouraged the faithful to undertake a fast from digital media as part of their preparation for the Resurrection of the Lord. Reflecting on the Gospel verse, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21), the hierarch stressed that the direction in which…

Feb 23, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Bishop of Canada says Great Lent is an invitation to light and joy

The beginning of Great Lent resounds in the Church’s hymnography as an unexpected invitation to light, Bishop Ioan Casian of Canada said in a message issued for the occasion. “Great Lent is a season which, although it calls for bodily and spiritual effort on our part, remains a time of light and of the joy…

Feb 20, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

80 years since Romania’s ‘Burning Bush’ hesychast movement began

The Library of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has marked 80 years since the official launch of the “Burning Bush” spiritual movement at Antim Monastery in Bucharest, commemorating the anniversary in a social media post. In a petition addressed to Patriarch Nicodim and dated 12 February 1946, several Christian lay intellectuals requested…

Feb 19, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Nicolae urges balance between fasting and daily responsibilities ahead of Great Lent

His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas has called on the faithful, as Great Lent approaches, to maintain “a balance between the effort of fasting and the fulfilment of daily responsibilities.” In his pastoral message marking the beginning of Great Lent, the Metropolitan stressed that this fasting season is not…

Feb 19, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Orthodox Christians begin Cheesefare Week ahead of Great Lent

Orthodox Christians enter Cheesefare Week on Monday, the final stage of preparation for Great Lent, a period during which the faithful abstain from meat but may consume dairy products, eggs and fish. The discipline of this week has a pedagogical purpose, helping believers ease into the ascetic effort of fasting through dietary restraint, intensified prayer…

Feb 16, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian nun urges simplicity and prayer, recalls life of her sister who became Saint Elizabeth of Pasărea

“Let us seek simplicity and strive to acquire prayer, so that in times of trial we may be able to fight,” says Nun Nectaria Lazăr of Pasărea Monastery in Ilfov County, the biological sister of Saint Elizabeth of Pasărea, in a feature report for the newspaper of the Romanian Patriarchate. The nun recalled her childhood…

Feb 16, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Digital Matericon: Women Saints of February (II)

Digital Matericon: Women Saints of February (II) continues our monthly series dedicated to the lives of women saints commemorated throughout the Church year, highlighting a remarkable group of holy women remembered in the second half of February. This instalment presents the spiritual portraits of Saint Scholastica, Saint Theodora the Empress, Saint Priscilla, Saint Mariamne, Saint…

Feb 12, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Digital Matericon: Women Saints of February (I)

This February instalment of Digital Matericon: Women Saints of February is published in the context of the decision of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church to proclaim 2026 as the Commemorative Year of the Holy Women in the life and calendar of the Church. The series seeks to bring before contemporary readers the…

Feb 3, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu