For the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău, the feast of saint Emilian from Durostorum, celebrated in the Romanian Orthodox Church on 18 July, is the dedication day of Ciolpani Monastery. This year, hundreds of pilgrims and faithful from Bacău area, and not only from there, went to the monastic place of worship located close to Buhuşi town. On this day, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Ioachim, Archbishop of Roman and Bacău, together with a group of hieromonks and priests from several parts of the eparchy.
During the Divine Liturgy, the children and nuns received the Holy Communion with the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, our Saviour. The sermon was delivered by priest Adrian Chirvase, archpriest of Vaslui, who spoke about the important living in the love of the Most Holy Trinity, with the saints of God as model.
At the end, His Eminence Ioachim spoke about the two decades long history of the present monastery built close to Runc, where proofs about monastic life have been present ever since the time of the Righteous Saint Prince Steven the Great. He has also mentioned that here, near the big church, the small wooden church dedicated to Saint Nicholas has been present, as peremptory proof of the life lived in Christ, as far back as the 16th century.
We live in the spiritual joy of Bacău county, and we have been celebrating it for more than two decades, since the foundation stone of this place of worship was laid. The founders of this monastic settlement are remembered, but its history dates as far back as long before 1990, because people who have transfigured their lives in this part of the world have been living here ever since the time of Steven the Great. It is a land blessed by God. (…) I see faithful and nuns praying together, which means that God wanted to live here, in this part of the world, because wherever a monastery is built the porch of the Kingdom of God begins. Time is transfigured here, and the pilgrims know that and come here to drink from the never ending spring of the life in the true faith. This is why let us glorify God for this fulfilment in the Holy Spirit, the hierarch said in his sermon.
Located in the North of Bacău county, close to Buhuşi town, Ciolpani monastery is the spiritual citadel which elevates the pilgrims making them think of the old hermitages of Neamţ Mountains. It is built on the place of an old skete founded by spearman Ciolpan, in 1590. In 1730, Ciolpani skete which was quite degraded is renovated by boyar Teodor Cantacuzino, who builds a small church dedicated to Saint Hierarch Nicholas on the old foundation of the church. The small wooden church is one of the smallest wooden churches of Moldova. The local tradition speaks about the presence of a nuns’ skete here at the end of the 19th century. Later on, this church passed through several modifications, and in 2002 it was renovated. It was the starting point of the present Ciolpani monastery. It is a true piece of oak wooden jewellery located in the cemetery of the monastery. After 1989, the monastic settlement is re-established, at the initiative of the faithful of the neighbouring villages, headed by abbot of Runc monastery. Thus, in 1991, the construction began on the plot of land donated by a former inhabitant of the place, called Petru Păduraru. First, a chapel was built dedicated to the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God. In 1993, the place for the big church was blessed and dedicated to Saint Martyr Emilian from Durostorum. The construction of the church began in the autumn of 1993 and was finished in 1997, when the entire monastic complex was consecrated, on 21 September. The community of the monastery consists of 60 nuns, with archimandrite Emilian Panait as father confessor and stavrofora nun Lucia Chirvase as abbess.
