Mount Athos

Patriarch Daniel meets Thessaloniki mayor, highlights Romanian-Greek spiritual ties

On Thursday, 24 September 2026, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church received Stelios Angeloudis, Mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece, at the Patriarchal Residence in Bucharest. The meeting was also attended by Her Excellency Evangelia Grammatika, Ambassador of Greece to Romania; Vasilis Gakis, Deputy Mayor of Thessaloniki for Culture, Tourism Development and Intermunicipal Cooperation;…

Sep 24, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

St Sophrony of Essex remembered 130 years after his birth

St Sophrony the Athonite was born in Moscow on 22 September 1896 and was baptised Sergei Semyonovich Sakharov. He studied Fine Arts in Moscow, searching for an ideal of beauty that transcended the purely aesthetic. During the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, he was arrested twice and imprisoned at the Lubyanka, but in 1921 he managed…

Sep 22, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

St Anne’s relics arrive in Constanța after pilgrimage in Bucharest

Faithful from Constanța and pilgrims from several regions of Romania venerated the reliquary containing the right foot of St Anne, the mother of the Mother of God, on Sunday. The sacred relic was brought from St George the New Church in Bucharest to the Archdiocesan Cathedral in Constanța. The holy relics, which belong to Koutloumousiou…

Sep 15, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

1585 charter on Bucharest’s Plumbuita Monastery found in Mount Athos archive

The Vasile Pârvan Cultural Association recently discovered a charter concerning Plumbuita Monastery in Bucharest in the archives of Xeropotamou Monastery on Mount Athos. Dated 21 October 1585, the document was issued by Wallachian Prince Mihnea II the Turned-Turk and records the dedication of the Bucharest monastery to the Athonite monastery. According to a post on…

Aug 27, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Relics of Saint Anne from Mount Athos to be brought to Romania for first time

The relics of Saint Anne from Koutloumousiou Monastery will be brought to Romania for the first time and placed for veneration at the New “Saint George” Church in Bucharest from 5 to 10 September. A delegation from Mount Athos, comprising five monks, will arrive at Henri Coandă International Airport in Otopeni at around 3:00 pm…

Aug 24, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Assistant Bishop Timotei: Seek the light through constant spiritual struggle against darkness

“Let us seek the light through a constant struggle against darkness,” His Grace Timotei of Prahova, Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, urged the faithful on Sunday at the Patriarchal Cathedral. Reflecting on the Gospel reading for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, the bishop explained that the power of evil is limited and that…

Aug 10, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel: The Transfiguration shows humanity’s destiny is heaven, not the grave

“This feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord shows that human beings were not created for the grave, but for heaven,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church emphasised on Thursday. The Patriarch participated in the Divine Liturgy celebrated for the Feast of the Transfiguration at the historic St George Chapel of the…

Aug 7, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel urges faithful to seek God’s Kingdom above material concerns

“Let us live as spiritually free people who seek first the Kingdom of God’s love through prayer and good works,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel urged on Sunday at the historic Chapel of St George of the patriarchal residence in Bucharest. His Beatitude explained that a person’s foremost concern should be the attainment of the Kingdom…

Jun 23, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Greek delegation visits Romanian Patriarchate to strengthen bilateral ties

Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploiești received an official delegation from Greece on Tuesday at the Patriarchal Palace in Bucharest during a meeting focused on dialogue and strengthening relations between the two countries. The delegation was led by Deputy Minister of the Interior Konstantinos Gioulekas and included representatives of academia, local administration, professional associations and…

May 29, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Orthodox-themed Minecraft server digitally recreates Mount Athos

Mount Athos has been digitally recreated on the OrthoCraft Minecraft server, a project dedicated to Orthodoxy that features reconstructions inspired by the architecture and spirituality of the Orthodox world. The creator of the OrthoCraft server told Basilica.ro that the project’s latest achievement is “a detailed reconstruction of Mount Athos, including several monastic buildings recognised from…

May 18, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian monastic cell dedicated to Saints Athanasius and Cyril under construction on Mount Athos

A Romanian monastic cell dedicated to Saints Athanasius and Cyril is being built on Mount Athos. The monastic settlement is located within the Romanian Lakkoskete, which belongs to Saint Paul Monastery. The new cell is being constructed on land donated by the Lakkoskete, in a deep valley surrounded by chestnut forests, a setting suited for…

May 18, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu