The local proclamation of the canonisation of Saint Blandina will take place on Sunday at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iași, the Press Office of the Archdiocese of Iași announced.
The liturgical programme will begin on the eve of the solemn event, at 4:00 p.m., with the vigil service in honour of the saint. The local proclamation of Saint Blandina of Iași will take place following the Divine Liturgy on Sunday.
The exhumation of the saint’s relics took place on 22 April at the Eternitatea Cemetery in Iași.
A local proclamation of the canonisation of Saint Blandina will also be held in Chișinău on 23 May.
The general proclamation of Saint Blandina and the other 15 holy women canonised by the Holy Synod in 2025 took place on 6 February at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest.
Saint Blandina of Iași
Saint Blandina the Confessor of Iași was born on 24 February 1906 in the village of Grușeuți, Hotin County, in Bessarabia, to Fr. Zaharia Popovici and Presbytera Serafima Popovici.
She completed the studies required to become a teacher and, in 1926, married the engineer Gheorghe Gobjilă, with whom she had a son, Vladislav. Following the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia in 1940, the family was deported to Siberia, enduring a 15-year ordeal of suffering.
In 1957, she arrived in Romania. Her son and daughter-in-law, who were hostile to the Christian faith, forced her to choose between God and family. Mother Blandina chose faith without hesitation, becoming homeless before eventually finding support with a Christian family in Iași.
She became a discreet yet constant presence at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iași, devoting her time to prayer, translating and transcribing akathists, and helping those in need.
Saint Blandina the confessor reposed in the Lord on 24 May 1971.
Photo: Basilica.ro
