Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol welcomes St Cyprian’s relics brought on a pilgrimage from Romania to Cyprus

His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol welcomed on Saturday, August 31, 2024, the Romanian delegation accompanying a fragment of the Hieromartyr Cyprian’s holy relics, brought to Limassol, Cyprus, from Bucharest’s Zlătari Church.

The official reception took place at the “Holy Archangel Michael” Church. It included a Doxology officiated in the presence of His Excellency Dan Mihalache, Ambassador of Romania to Cyprus, and the Consul of Romania in Limassol, Ion Mihai Stirbu.

Metropolitan Athanasios expressed his joy for the arrival of the relics, which was a blessing for Limassol and the whole Island of Cyprus.

His Eminence thanked His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, for the blessing and His Grace Timotei of Prahova, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest, for leading the delegation accompanying the holy relics.

“From what you have told us, we understand that this island and its Church have passed through the turbulent waves of history with God’s help and the intercession of the saints,” His Grace Bishop Timotei of Prahova told the Metropolitan of Limassol.

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol welcomed Hieromartyr Cyprian’s holy relics brought from the Zlătari Church in Bucharest, Romania, to the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael in Limassol, Cyprus, on Saturday, August 31, 2024. Photo: Ziarul Lumina / Luigi Ivanciu
“The Fathers of the Church tell us that rivers of blood flowed during the persecutions. Through his martyrdom, this saint, whom your Church and the whole Church honours, shed his blood for our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

“Wonderfully, a fragment of the Hieromartyr Cyprian’s holy relics arrived at a church in Bucharest which functioned for many years as a monastery and had close ties with the Patriarchate of Alexandria 225 years ago,” added the assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest.

“Countless miracles have been performed at his relics in Bucharest, and on the day of his commemoration, the line of pilgrims at the church where he is particularly honoured numbers many thousands.”

“When the Patriarchate of Alexandria went through a very difficult period, this church in Bucharest helped a hospital of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and many Christians in need,” added the Romanian hierarch.

The Romanian delegation accompanying the relics of St Cyprian to Cyprus, led by HG Timotei of Prahova, was welcomed on Saturday, 31 August 2024, in Cyprus, by Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol. Photo: Lumina Newspaper / Luigi Ivanciu

“While Your Eminence testifies to the joy of receiving the relics of St Cyprian in your metropolis, how much greater is the joy of those who have brought them! And we add Patriarch Daniel’s joy that, through us – the two fathers and me, the humble one – the blessing of a saint whom you especially honour is brought to Your diocese,” Bishop Timotei of Prahova said.

The pilgrimage schedule

On Sunday, 1 September 2024, Bishops Timotei of Prahova and Porphyrios of Neapolis celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Limassol’s “Holy Archangel Michael” Church.

On Tuesday, 3 September, Bishop Timotei of Prahova gave a lecture on “Monasticism and Orthodox Spirituality in Romania” in the same church.

On Thursday, 5 September, from 6.00 p.m., and on Friday morning, on the Commemoration of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae, His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova will celebrate Vespers and, respectively, the Divine Liturgy.

Hieromartyr Cyprian’s holy relics will remain in Limassol’s “Holy Archangel Michael” Church until Monday, September 9, and the faithful will be able to venerate them between 16:30 and 21:30. St Cyprian’s Paraklesis will be celebrated almost daily.

Holy relics from Cyprus to be taken on a pilgrimage to Bucharest, Romania

The delegation from Romania accompanying St. Cyprian’s relics on pilgrimage to Cyprus visited “St. Lazarus” Church in Larnaca (the ancient city of Kition) dedicated to Lazarus of Bethany, the one resurrected by Jesus Christ and later consecrated Bishop of Kition by St. Paul himself. Photo: Ziarul Lumina / Luigi Ivanciu

The delegation accompanying the relics from Romania, led by His Grace Timotei of Prahova, Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, also includes Fr Ștefan Sfarghie, priest at Zlătari Church and editor at Lumina Newspaper, the daily newspaper of the Romanian Patriarchate; Hierodeacon Nicolae Iftimiu, coordinating patriarchal counsellor and director of the Romanian Patriarchate’s Basilica News Agency, and Luigi Ivanciu, photographer at Lumina newspaper.

Representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church arrived in Cyprus on August 30, where they visited several holy places. Among them was the Church of St Lazarus in Larnaca, which keeps the relics of St Lazarus of Bethany, who was raised from the dead on the fourth day by our Saviour Jesus Christ.

The relics of St Lazarus will be brought to the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, Romania, in October 2024, as part of the celebrations dedicated to St. Demetrius the New, the patron saint of Bucharest.


Bucharest’s Zlătari Parish has kept Hieromartyr Cyprian’s right hand since 1790. Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Paisie of Sinaia has recently blessed a special, smaller-sized reliquary in which a fragment of these relics was placed to be carried on pilgrimages to other communities, so that the whole hand of the saint does not leave the Church of Zlătari.

Photo credit: Ziarul Lumina / Luigi Ivanciu

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