The Romanian Orthodox Church may soon add a new feast day to its liturgical calendar: the Sunday of the Athonite Saints. The proposed date for this commemoration is the third Sunday after Pentecost, following the Sunday of All Saints and the Sunday of the Romanian Saints—two feasts that already occur after Pentecost.
The proposal was added to the agenda of the Synod of the Metropolis of Muntenia and Dobruja, held on May 20, 2025.
“This feast already exists on Mount Athos, in several countries, and in some hermitages connected to Athos,” said Patriarch Daniel during the synodal session.
“They observed it as the Sunday following the Sunday of All Saints—such as at Bucium Skete near Iași,” the Patriarch added.
This potential new Sunday feast would gain even more significance following the expected canonization by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of four Romanian Athonite elders, whose holy life has been discussed in previous synods in Bucharest.
“We also hope that, in addition to the 16 saints already canonized and proclaimed on February 4 of this year, the following four Romanian Athonite saints will be added in the autumn: Dionisie of Colciu, Petroniu Tănase of Prodromu, Nectarie the Vlach, also called the Nightingale of Mount Athos, and Nifon, the first abbot of the Romanian Skete Prodromu,” said Patriarch Daniel.
Mount Athos has long been a place of ascetic labor for numerous Romanian elders, several of whom have already been recognized as saints and included in Orthodox calendars. Among them are Saint Gregory the Teacher, Saint Macarius the Protopsaltis (tonsured on Mount Athos), Saint Paisius Velichkovsky of Neamț, and Saint George of Cernica and Căldărușani.
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