{"id":543139,"date":"2025-10-08T11:02:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T08:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=543139"},"modified":"2025-10-08T11:02:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T08:02:05","slug":"romanian-president-nicusor-dan-patronal-feast-cotroceni-palace-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/romanian-president-nicusor-dan-patronal-feast-cotroceni-palace-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Romanian President Nicu\u0219or Dan attends patronal feast of Cotroceni Palace Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cotroceni Palace Church celebrated its patronal feast on Tuesday, honouring the Holy Great Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. Among those attending the celebration was Romanian President Nicu\u0219or Dan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On this occasion, the President congratulated the clergy and community members, expressing appreciation for those who have contributed to preserving and revitalising the church within the Cotroceni Palace complex<\/a>. He also promised to attend future services.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this place, which has a rather tumultuous history, I want to congratulate everyone who helped make it a place we can be proud of. To all those who come here regularly, I send a message of openness on our part,\u201d said President Dan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are glad that you choose to come here, because this is a place for the people of Bucharest \u2014 not something distant or inaccessible. We are happy to have you, and I look forward to meeting again here.\u201d<\/p>\n

A place of prayer within an institution<\/h2>\n

Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploie\u0219ti, who was Patriarch Daniel’s delegate to the event, emphasised the great blessing it is for any institution to have a chapel where the Divine Liturgy is celebrated \u2014 especially in the case of Romania\u2019s Presidential Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a joy every time we celebrate a patronal feast, for the church being honoured represents the heart of a community,\u201d Bishop Varlaam said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a great blessing for any institution of crucial importance \u2014 such as the Presidency of Romania, hospitals, or schools \u2014 to have a church or chapel where the Divine Liturgy is offered, asking God for wisdom, patience, and discernment in making sound decisions for the good of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The saints\u2019 role in the life of a ruler<\/h2>\n

The bishop also recalled how \u0218erban Cantacuzino, the founder of the Cotroceni Palace Church, chose Saints Sergius and Bacchus as its patrons.<\/p>\n

According to Bishop Varlaam, \u0218erban Cantacuzino once sought refuge in this place, praying to the saints to save him from his pursuers:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stayed here for three days, fasting and praying to Saints Sergius and Bacchus for deliverance. Being a man of great learning, he had read Byzantine chronicles and knew how Emperor Justinian the Great had once been miraculously saved through their intercession.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCantacuzino\u2019s life was spared; he later travelled to Istanbul, where he was appointed Prince of Wallachia in 1678. Upon ascending the throne, he built the Cotroceni Palace Church, which, despite its turbulent history, remains \u2014 as Bishop Varlaam noted \u2014 \u201ca place of prayer for those who labour within the Presidential Administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the service, several distinctions from Patriarch Daniel were presented to members of the Presidential Administration in recognition of their service.<\/p>\n

For more pictures, please visit our photo gallery section<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photo: Basilica \/ Mircea Florescu
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cotroceni Palace Church celebrated its patronal feast on Tuesday, honouring the Holy Great Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. Among those attending the celebration was Romanian President Nicu\u0219or Dan. On this occasion, the President congratulated the clergy and community members, expressing appreciation for those who have contributed to preserving and revitalising the church within the Cotroceni…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":543064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26751,14],"tags":[3933,7866,7757,35803,4977,36087,36088],"class_list":["post-543139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bucharest-archdiocese","category-dioceses","tag-bishop-varlaam-of-ploiesti","tag-cotroceni-palace","tag-patronal-feast","tag-president-nicusor-dan","tag-president-of-romania","tag-saints-sergius-and-bacchus","tag-serban-cantacuzino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}