The Holy Military Martyrs, venerated by the Church as protectors of the Romanian Armed Forces and models of Christian witness, will now have a common feast day in the Romanian Orthodox calendar.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided last week that the Synaxis of the Holy Military Martyrs will be celebrated annually on 26 October. The Synod also approved the liturgical texts for the new feast.
According to the Synaxarion approved by the Holy Synod, the celebration commemorates all military saints who confessed their faith in Christ and received the crown of martyrdom.
Among the saints commemorated are St Longinus the Centurion, witness to the Crucifixion of Christ, as well as the great military martyrs honoured throughout the Orthodox world. In total, the feast includes 20 military martyr saints.
Connection to Romanian History
The Synaxarion also highlights the connection of some of these saints with Romanian history. It recalls the tradition that the Great Martyrs George, Demetrios and Procopius miraculously aided the armies of St Stephen the Great.
“St George has been regarded since the fifteenth century as the protector of the Moldavian army and remains today the patron saint of the Romanian Army’s Land Forces,” the authors of the Synaxarion note.
The synaxis also includes the Daco-Roman martyrs of the early Christian centuries, among them St. Julius the Veteran, St. Hesychius, St. Dasius, and the Great Martyr Nicetas.
Models for Soldiers and the Faithful
The text approved by the Holy Synod emphasises the lives of these saints as evidence that holiness can be attained within military service.
“They are worthy examples for all believers, but especially for military personnel and all those serving in the armed forces, demonstrating that life in Christ can be fulfilled by those who have chosen this profession and can bear abundant spiritual fruit.”
The new feast was also established in light of the proximity between Romanian Armed Forces Day and the feast of St Demetrios the Myrrh-Gusher, serving as “a testimony to the cooperation of the Church and the Army in preserving the identity and virtues of the faithful Romanian people.”
A similar celebration already exists in the Ecumenical Patriarchate, where the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Church of Constantinople approved the institution of a “Synaxis of the Military Saints” in 2019, to be celebrated annually on 8 July.
Photo: Pătrăuți Monastery / Suceava and Rădăuți Archdiocese
