During this year’s first working session held Wednesday at St Daniel Monastery in Moscow, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church approved the proposal of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, to add to the Russian Church calendar several saints glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Church during 1950-2017.
Report no. 8 approved by the Holy Synod on March 7 lists the names and feasts of nine Romanian Saints that have not been included so far in the calendar of the Russian Church and that will be added to the next edition of the local Church’s calendar.
The list includes:
- Saint Dionysius Exiguus (September 1/14);
- Saint Daniel the Hermit (December 18/31);
- Ruler Prince Saint Neagoe Basarab (September 26/October 9);
- Saint Simeon Stephen, Metropolitan of Transylvania (April 24/ May 7);
- Saint Varlaam, Metropolitan of Moldova (August 30/September 12);
- Saint Theodora of Sihla (August 7/20);
- Ruler Prince Saint Constantin Brâncoveanu (August 16/29);
- Hieromartyr Saint Anthimos the Iberian, Metropolitan of Wallachia (September 27/October 10);
- Saint Callinicus of Cernica, Bishop of Râmnic (April 11/24).
On 24 March 2017, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel sent a letter to all Primates of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches informing them about the glorifications made by the Romanian Orthodox Church during 1950-2017, and proposing to add some of the Saints to their Churches local calendars.
The Polish Church was the first Autocephalous Orthodox Church to respond affirmatively to the Romanian Patriarchate’s proposal to introduce Romanian Saints to its local church calendar. During its 16 May working session, the Holy Synod of the Polish Orthodox Church decided to add over forty Romanian Saints to its local calendar.
The calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church includes several important Slavic Saints, with Saint Matrona of Moscow being the latest Russian Saint whose veneration was established in Romania by synodal decision.
The Patriarchal Calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church contains over fifty feasts of Proto-Romanian and Romanian Saints, to which will be added the commemorations of the nine Romanian ruler princes, hierarchs and ascetics mentioned above.
Photography courtesy of Robert Nicolae/Basilica.ro
