“We welcome with great joy this decision of the Holy Synod,” Nun Antonia Popescu, abbess of Tismana Monastery, told Basilica.ro upon receiving the news that Archimandrite Gherasim Iscu is one of the confessors proposed for canonization. Father Gherasim was the last abbot of the monastery before it turned into a women’s monastery. “Father was a…
“The fight for life never takes a break, but faith in God gives me strength,” an emergency rescue service SMURD paramedic told AGERPRES. Major lieutenant Mihaela Nicoleta Enache from Mihăileşti Intervention Guard within Romanian General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (ISU) Giurgiu. Mihaela Enache spoke about the mission she carries out at ISU Giurgiu, the challenges…
The Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) and Orthphoto.net launched last week a photography competition inspired by Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia Basilica (“The Church of the Holy Wisdom of God”). Participants are invited to send images of temples dedicated to the Wisdom of God from all over the world, be they Orthodox or from other Christian denominations.…
Assistant Bishop Damaschin of Dorna proposed establishing an addiction treatment centre in the Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti. The proposal was made during a Synaxis (Assembly) of the Archdiocese’s abbots, abbesses and spiritual fathers on March 8, 2021. The assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Suceava spoke about the stages of healing addictions. He stressed…
A new socio-catechetical centre was opened in Bacău County last Saturday for the benefit of Roma children. The centre, protected by Saint Parascheva, is located in the local school in Poiana Negustorului village, Blăgești commune. The project was proposed and supported by Fr. Lucian Dima from Poiana Negustorului and was implemented thanks to the support…
A Franco-Norwegian team led by Romanian archaeologist Victor Ghica discovered the oldest archaeologically attested monastic site in the world. The site is 370 kilometers south-west of Cairo, Egypt, and it dates back to the 4th century. The discovery made at Tall Ğanūb Qaṣr al-‘Ağūz, in the al-Bahariya oasis, certifies that Christian monasticism was born in…
In recent months, Romania has become the main transit gateway for migrants, most of them from Afghanistan, who are trying to reach the countries of Western Europe in search of a better life. More than two-thirds of migrants crossing Romania are registered in the western city of Timisoara, many returning there after being accommodated in…
In his meditation at the beginning of Great Lent, the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas highlighted that the fasting season is a struggle for each Christian. “Today’s world and our responsibilities in it don’t encourage our fasting. During every fast, the struggle comes in trying to find a certain balance between our ascetical efforts and fulfilling…
On Monday, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel read the first portion of the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete at the Patriarchal Residence’s historic chapel. On this occasion, His Beatitude emphasized that a strict fast supports humble and fervent prayer. “This practice of fasting means an abrupt beginning of the fight against sin,” the Patriarch…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said that forgiving the mistakes of others is “the first condition to enter this inner ascent towards Resurrection, which is Great Lent.” The Gospel on the Sunday of Adam’s Expulsion from Paradise shows us that forgiving others’ mistakes is “essential” for us to receive forgiveness from God. “Through forgiveness, we humble…
Bishop Ignatie spoke on Sunday evening, at the Diocesan Cathedral in Huși, about the need to practice giving up addictive habits, such as addiction to digital media: “The purpose of fasting is not exclusively to give up, but to change some habits that turn us into slaves.” “Digital media fasting will help us realize how…
During an extraordinary coordination meeting held March 11, the Orthodox Episcopal Assembly of Benelux (CEOB-OBB) announced that the inter-Orthodox concelebration on the Sunday of Orthodoxy will not take place this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The hierarchs discussed the difficulties caused by the pandemic in officiating holy services and not allowing believers access to…
News of the coming canonization of Elder Cleopa (Ilie) has brought great joy to the hearts of the Romanian Orthodox faithful, and especially those who are parishioners of Sihăstria Monastery, where the great 20th-century confessor and elder labored and is buried. “Even though many already honor Fr. Cleopa as a saint, they still wanted their…
The Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada explains, at the beginning of Great Lent, how we can drive away personal selfishness through the act of fasting. Bishop Ioan Casian says that the main remedy lies in love for God and other people. “Through the love of God and of the neighbour one fasts of his own…
‘Some of you may wonder why the Church, in the midst of the current pandemic, would add to the already existing health restrictions yet another “quarantine,” namely Great Lent.’ “Indeed, Great Lent is also a quarantine, a period that lasts forty days,” wrote Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his catechetical message at the beginning of Great…
#FearNot is the meditation-exhortation we propose to you for the Lenten season. Why? Because these are the first words that resounded after the Resurrection: the angel said these words to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb, and the Saviour addressed them directly to His disciples. The encouragement Christ gave centuries ago is timelier than ever,…
“The sufferings and the blood of those unjustly imprisoned call upon us, today, to stop looking for a comfortable life and to begin to seek first the Kingdom of God, as Christ urges us. They did this standing steadfast in front of the storm and confessing the truth, like giants of Romanian spirituality, who arouse…
“For Orthodox Christians in our complex, difficult times, full of spiritual disappointments, temptations and limitations of all kinds, Lent is of great spiritual importance,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Poland begins his Lenten epistle. Lent is a time for increased prayer and the struggle for purification, which give us renewed strength to struggle with the temptations…
Piteşti Prison of communist Romania was home to unspeakable horrors, where thousands suffered for their faith in Christ and political dissension. Now, the former penal facility is set to become the site of a future Orthodox church in honour of all who suffered there. The foundation stone for the future church was placed and consecrated…
“The Face of God,” a recently released film, features Orthodox Christian perspectives from North America on climate change. The film presents reflections based on the experience and responses from Orthodox communities on the ecological crisis. Voices of clergy and lay leaders, scientists and theologians, as well as parish communities, focus on ecology, theology, and our…