Wednesday, 21 May 2014, feast of the Saints Emperors Constantine and Helen, dedication day of the Patriarchal Cathedral, several manifestations will take place, included in the calendar of the events of 2014, that the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church declared as Solemn Eucharistic Year (of the Holy Confession and Holy Communion) and Commemorative Year of the Brancovean Saints Martyrs in the Romanian Patriarchate, at the commemoration of 300 years since their martyr’s death (1714 – 2014).
The manifestations organised by the Romanian Patriarchate and by the Archdiocese of Bucharest will develop according to the following programme:
At 7.00 hours, the relics of Saints Emperors Constantine and Helen, of the Saint Martyr Prince Constantine Brancoveanu, and of Saint Pious Dimitrios the New, protector of Bucharest, will be laid under the canopy on the Patriarchate Hill to be venerated by clergy and faithful.
At 9.00 hours, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church will celebrate the Divine Liturgy assisted by a group of hierarchs, priests and deacons, in the Summer Altar of the Patriarchal Cathedral.
At 12,30 hours, after the Divine Liturgy, the winners of the two national contests entitled the “Holy Eucharist – Light of the Christian Life” and the “Orthodox Icon – Light of Faith” will be awarded prizes. The two national contests have been organised by the Romanian Patriarchate in 2014, for the Orthodox young people from all over the country.
At 15.00 hours, the procession of the relics of the Saint Martyr Prince Constantine Brancoveanu will take place from the Patriarchal Cathedral till the church of “Saint George the New” of Bucharest, one of the most representative Brancovean foundations (consecrated in 1707), where this saint martyr of the Romanian people was buried in 1720.
The procession, in which hierarchs, priests, monks, nuns and faithful will participate, will take the following route: start from the Patriarchal Cathedral, alley of the Metropolitan Hill, with a stop at the Brancovean Cross, Bibescu Voda St., Unirii Bd, Palatul Justitiei St., Danielopol Gheorghe St., Poenaru Bordea St., Operetei St., Natiunile Unite Bd., Calea Victoriei St., Regina Elisabeta Bd., with a stop at the University of Bucharest (where “Saint Sava” Monastery and the “Princely Academy” used to be, rebuilt in 1790 by Saint Constantine Brancoveanu and materially supported by the family of the martyr prince), and Ion C. Bratianu Bd. The procession will end at the church of “Saint Gheorghe the New” (around 17.00 hours), where the shrine of the relics of the Saint Martyr Prince Constantine Brancoveanu will be laid under the canopy specially arranged at this Brancovean foundation.
The route is similar to the one followed 80 years ago on 21 May 1934, when the solemn procession for the reburial of the remains of the Martyr Prince Constantine Brancoveanu took place, from the Patriarchal Cathedral till the church of “Saint Gheorghe the New”, of Bucharest.
PRESS OFFICE OF THE ROMANIAN PATRIARCHATE
