His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel blessed the reliquary containing the relics of St Eulogia of Samurcășești on Friday. During the service at the historic Chapel of St George the Great Martyr, His Beatitude highlighted the saint’s mission to preserve the Orthodox faith.
“The Holy Nun-Martyr Eulogia demonstrates the important role of lay faithful, monks and nuns in preserving and confessing the Orthodox faith in difficult times, in periods of spiritual aridity and secularisation,” Patriarch Daniel said.
The Patriarch of Romania recalled that St Eulogia was a member of the Patriarch Miron Missionary Association, through which she bore witness to the Orthodox faith in communities across Wallachia.
“She gave talks in places where people were deeply affected by alcoholism and had stopped attending church. She called them back to church and also cared for children, whom she prepared to learn the Orthodox faith. She continued this activity even after the communist regime came to power in Romania.”
The crown of martyrdom
In 1939, she entered monastic life at Samurcășești Monastery, receiving the name Eulogia, but did not abandon her missionary work.
“Her mission provoked the anger of those who had come to power, and in 1949 a group of communist fanatics beat her and left her almost dead.”
“She was taken to Brâncovenesc Hospital, but she sensed that her life would soon come to an end and therefore asked to be taken to Samurcășești Monastery, where she confessed and received Holy Communion. She reposed in the Lord in 1949, on 19 December, which is also her feast day,” Patriarch Daniel added.
St Eulogia of Samurcășești was canonised in 2025 alongside 15 other Romanian women of holy life, with a feast day on December 19.
The local proclamation of her canonisation took place on Sunday at Samurcășești Monastery.
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Photocredit: BASILICA / Mircea Florescu
