On the Sunday of the Holy Cross, the Aromanian martyrs of the Balkans and Priest Haralambie Balamace were commemorated at the “Life-Giving Spring” – Mavrogheni Church in Bucharest.
The memorial service was held at the end of the Divine Liturgy and was officiated by Fr. Ioan Jucan, concelebrant priest at the “Life-Giving Spring” – Mavrogheni Church, alongside Fr. Radu Petre Mureșan, the parish priest of the community.
Every year, the Mavrogheni Church hosts a commemoration of the Aromanian martyrs of the Balkans, as it is believed that Prince Nicolae Petru Mavrogheni, the church’s founder, was of Koutsovlach origin. The church also houses a relic of Saint Andrew Șaguna, one of the most prominent figures of the Aromanian community in Romania.
Martyrs of Romanian Identity in the Balkan Peninsula
Priest Haralambie Balamace was killed on the night of Pascha, March 23, 1914, for celebrating the service in the Romanian language. A similar fate befell some 1,000 Romanians from the Balkans – teachers, professors, priests, and students – who were persecuted and killed for defending their Romanian identity and serving their communities in Romanian, the Aromanian dialect, or the Meglenitic dialect.
Father Balamace played a crucial role in developing Romanian education among the Macedo-Romanians of Epirus and Albania, also contributing to the ecclesiastical emancipation of the Romanians in the Balkans. For his merits, he was declared a national hero of Albania in 1972.
Photo: Macedonian-Romanian Cultural Society / Facebook
