The Battle of Lipnic was commemorated on Thursday in northern Republic of Moldova. Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia celebrated the Divine Liturgy and a memorial service for the soldiers of Saint Stephen the Great who fell in the battle against the Tatars. The commemorations started at the church in Lipnic village, with attendance including local community members,…
Victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief are commemorated each year on 22 August internationally through a day established by the United Nations. The observance provides an opportunity to express solidarity with people affected by religious persecution and discrimination and to reaffirm the need to protect every person’s right to manifest their…
His Grace Bishop Ieronim of Dacia Felix concelebrated on Wednesday with Serbian Metropolitan Lukijan of Buda and Administrator of Timișoara at the patronal feast of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Szentendre, Hungary. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated on the occasion of the feast observed by the Serbian Orthodox Church according to…
Approximately 25,000 pilgrims attended the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God on Saturday, 15 August, at Nicula Monastery in Cluj County. According to law enforcement estimates, more than 70,000 people visited the monastery in the days leading up to its patronal feast. Metropolitan Andrei of Cluj, Maramureș and…
Young Germans are discovering the beauty of Orthodoxy through volunteer activities at Piatra Fântânele Monastery in Bistrița-Năsăud County, where they are taking part in a work camp. The programme runs from 15 to 29 August and brings together 20 participants from the Evangelical Youth Association in Württemberg (EJW), the Cluj branch of the Association of…
Patriarch Daniel of Romania has presented Saints Nazaria, Olympias and Elizabeth of Văratec as three distinct examples of holiness united by unceasing prayer, humble charity and diligent service to others. He delivered his message on the occasion of the local proclamation of their canonisation at Văratec Monastery. Saints Nazaria, Olympias and Elizabeth of Văratec –…
Saint John of Rila was commemorated on Wednesday at Rila Monastery in Bulgaria, marking 1,080 years since his repose in the Lord. On this occasion, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniil of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church highlighted the saint’s spiritual legacy, describing him as “a source of hope, spiritual help, an example and a guide for our…
The Romanian community’s new church in Boian, Alberta, Canada, was consecrated on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, three years after a fire destroyed the old place of worship. His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian of Canada described the occasion as “a new rebirth for the Boian community”, as well as a…
Ten hierarchs and numerous abbots from the Moldavia region, joined by clergy from across Romania and the diaspora, celebrated the Divine Liturgy last Sunday at Văratec Monastery in Neamț County, where the local proclamation of the canonisation of Saints Nazaria, Olympias and Elizabeth of Văratec took place after the liturgy. The assembly of hierarchs comprised…
His Eminence Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia honoured members of the Orthodox Women’s Society of the Diocese of Bălți for their involvement in the life of the Church. A ceremony took place on Monday during a meeting held at the Anastasis Educational Centre in Bălți. The event highlighted the organisation’s work over almost eight years in…
The Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas is preparing assistance for families affected by the earthquake that struck Colombia on 10 August 2026, Metropolitan Nicolae announced. Representatives of the Metropolis have begun efforts to identify the concrete needs of the communities affected by the earthquake in Colombia. Through Fr Daniel Adrian Ene, diocesan vicar and…
Around age 70, in the quiet of her home in Mahala, Chernivtsi region, a Bukovinian peasant woman who had completed only three years of primary school began writing her memoirs under the title Memories from My Life. The manuscript, written neatly and without corrections – almost as though it had been dictated – was entrusted…
The Romanian Government, through the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova, is funding 11 projects to equip and develop churches and monasteries within the Diocese of Southern Bessarabia. The projects will be implemented between July and November 2026 and will include church painting, the production and acquisition of liturgical furnishings, the development of monastic…
The Parish of St Gregory the Theologian and St Maria Brâncoveanu in Schiedam/Rotterdam, the oldest Romanian Orthodox parish in the Netherlands, celebrated on Sunday its first summer patronal feast dedicated to St Maria Brâncoveanu. Fr Ioan Dură, the dean and parish priest, celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Following the service, a procession took place with the…
Romanian Migrants Sunday was celebrated at the Dormition of the Mother of God Parish in Christchurch, New Zealand, where Orthodox faithful of different backgrounds prayed together at the Divine Liturgy. During the service, the message of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel was read. Romanians, Serbs, Russians, Bulgarians, English people and faithful from other communities prayed together…
His Eminence Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia spoke on a ProTV Chișinău podcast about the path that led him from medical studies to theology and, subsequently, to monastic life. Metropolitan Antonie explained that his interest in theology began while he was studying medicine, when his psychiatry courses prompted questions about the existence of the soul and…
His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Latakia (Patriarchate of Antioch) consecrated on Sunday evening the church of Putna Monastery’s metochion at Poiana Mănăstirii, Suceava County. “We are brothers in Christ. Nothing separates us,” the visiting hierarch said. “We are one Body – the Body of Christ. And this Body is the Church. Even though we speak…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania described Saint Maria Brâncoveanu as a model of Christian faith and courage whose trust in God enabled her to endure the martyrdom of her husband and four sons, years of captivity and exile without falling into despair. In a message delivered on Sunday at the local proclamation of her…
The local proclamation of Saint Maria Brâncoveanu’s canonisation took place on Sunday at the New St George Church in Bucharest. Churches founded or supported by the saint received icons containing a fragment of her holy relics. These included the St Nicholas “Dintr-o Zi” Church in Bucharest, the monasteries of Hurezi, Surpatele and Dintr-un Lemn in…
The Very Rev. Protosyncellus Sofian Costea has discussed the tendency to seek the approval of others online in a new episode of Doxologia’s video series “ASKetica”, explaining that “we chase after vainglory and motivation that comes from people, and less after the glory that comes from God”. Fr Sofian, who is blind yet continues his…