On Tuesday, Sept. 28, the Metropolitan Synod of Transylvania met at Râmeț Monastery under the chairmanship of His Eminence Metropolitan Laurențiu of Transylvania.
The agenda included the canonization files of elders Dometie Manolache from Râmeț and Serafim Popescu from Sâmbăta de Sus, disciples of Father Arsenie Boca.
Participants at the meeting included Archbishop Irineu of Alba Iulia, Bishop Andrei of Covasna and Harghita, Bishop Gurie of Deva and Hunedoara and Assistant Bishop Nestor of the Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara.
The bishops studied the two proposals for canonization and discussed pastoral-missionary and social-philanthropic issues. After the meeting, the hierarchs officiated a memorial service at the tomb of Father Dometie Manolache, located near the old church of Râmeț Monastery.
His Eminence Metropolitan Laurențiu of Transylvania emphasized that Father Serafim and Father Dometie are part of the sanctifying and fruitful work of Father Arsenie Boca at Prislop Monastery.
The Metropolitan reminded that each hierarch present at the meeting of the Metropolitan Synod contributed with unique information to the two canonization proposals. The study project will be submitted to His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel and the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Elder Dometie Manolache, one of the great spiritual fathers of the 20th century, was born on October 15, 1924, in Buzău County. In 1945 he graduated from the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Buzau as valedictorian. He then attended the courses of the Theological Institute in Bucharest.
He entered the monastic community of Prislop Monastery in 1949, having Father Arsenie Boca as his monastic godfather. He arrived at Râmeț Monastery in 1959 to consolidate the monastic life. He reposed in the Lord on July 6, 1975, being later named by Father Dumitru Stăniloae “a hero of the faith, a soul of great holiness and purity.”
Archimandrite Serafim Popescu was born in 1912 in Totoi, Alba County. He graduated from the Theological Academy in Sibiu in 1936. He then studied at the Faculty of Theology in Chernivtsi.
After a short time in Greece, he returned to Romania, to Brâncoveanu Monastery at Sâmbăta de Sus, where he was tonsured a monk in April 1941. Between 1944 and 1954, he was the abbot and spiritual director of this monastic settlement. He reposed in the Lord on December 20, 1990.
Photography courtesy of Reintregirea.ro
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