The relics of Saint Theodora of Sihla could be brought to Romania, according to a joint statement issued after a meeting between the governments of Ukraine and Romania on Wednesday in Kyiv.
According to the statement, the two prime ministers noted “the importance of work related to the organization of the search for the relics of St. Theodora in Ukraine and the graves of Hetmans Pylyp Orlyk and Ivan Mazepa in Romania.”
Saint Theodora of Sihla (August 7) lived during the reign of Prince Vasile Lupu. After her blessed repose in the Lord, her body remained in the cave where she had spent most of her ascetic life. Still, during the Russian occupation of the Romanian Principalities, the relics were taken to the Kiyv Pechersk Lavra.
In 1992, attempts to acquire these holy relics for the canonization of Saint Theodora were unsuccessful.
Who are the two national heroes of Ukraine
Ivan Mazepa and Pylyp Orlyk are the two national heroes of Ukraine for whose remains the relics of Saint Theodora could be exchanged.
Ivan Mazepa was a hetman of the Zaporizhian Cossacks in Ukraine between 1687 and 1709, a national hero in Ukraine, a vehement opponent of the Russians, and considered the father of the idea of Ukrainian independence. He was buried in the Church of St. George in the city of Galaţi, but his tomb was destroyed in 1962 when the church was demolished.
Pylyp Orlyk was a legendary Cossack who died in Iasi in 1742. He was a prominent member of the General Military Chancellery of hetman Ivan Mazepa.
Photography courtesy of Doxologia / Oana Nechifor
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