After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, Israel welcomed its first Romanian pilgrims on March 1.
The first pilgrimage to the holy sites in Jerusalem was organized by the Romanian Patriarchate’s Basilica Travel Agency.
Romanian pilgrims visited the Monastery of Saint George of Choziba, where the relics of St. John Jacob of Neamţ are kept. They also went to the Jordan River and saw the biblical city of Jericho.
The itinerary included the Romanian Settlement in Jerusalem, where pilgrims met with Archimandrite Teofil Anăstăsoaie, Superior of the Romanian Settlements in the Holy Land.
On Sunday, Pilgrims attended the Divine Liturgy celebrated at the Romanian Settlement in Jerusalem by Archim. Teofil Anăstăsoaie.
“We, at the Representation of the Romanian Patriarchate in Jerusalem, the monks and nuns who are on a mission here, welcomed them with all our joy. We embraced them and especially told them that during the two years of waiting, the candle of Romanian prayer has not been extinguished in the city of Jerusalem.”
“I constantly prayed, asking God to have mercy on the whole world and especially on the Romanian people,” Fr Teofil told Basilica.ro.
Photo source: Archimandrite Teofil Anăstăsoaie
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