{"id":556604,"date":"2026-01-21T17:23:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=556604"},"modified":"2026-01-21T17:23:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:23:36","slug":"relics-st-elizabeth-exhumed-pasarea-monastery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/relics-st-elizabeth-exhumed-pasarea-monastery\/","title":{"rendered":"Relics of St Elizabeth exhumed at Pas\u0103rea Monastery, bishop praises her example"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe face of Schema-nun Elisabeta (Laz\u0103r) shines like the example and life of the hermits of old. She urges each of us to value time and dedicate as much of it as possible to the Lord,\u201d said Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova from the Archdiocese of Bucharest, on Friday, January 16, at Pas\u0103rea Monastery in Ilfov County.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hierarch presided over the exhumation service of the relics of Saint Elizabeth of Pas\u0103rea, as part of preparations for the proclamation of her canonisation and the transfer of her relics to the monastery church.<\/p>\n

Setting aside worldly cares<\/h2>\n

\u201cShe urges monks to love nothing more than God, as we are told at the very moment of tonsure: love nothing more than God\u2014neither honour, nor glory, nor these things, whatever they may be\u2014no matter how much they try to deceive each of us,\u201d Bishop Timotei added.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as we pray and hear at every Liturgy, \u2018let us now lay aside all earthly cares\u2019, she who laid aside worldly cares urges us too to walk this path of serving the Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat must it have meant for her? How did she overcome the harshness of the frost with the fire of prayer? What did she live on\u2014wild strawberries, sorrel, like Saint Theodora? Or the help she received from a few well-disposed fathers at Pojor\u00e2ta Skete, who were for a time her spiritual guides? Or from various people who understood that she was seeking the heights of Tabor and supported her\u2014until a grave illness forced her to come down from the mountains?\u201d the bishop continued.<\/p>\n

From a large family<\/h2>\n
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Assistant Bishop Timotei is watching over the exhumation of the relics, January 16, 2026. Photo: Basilica.ro \/ Raluca Ene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bishop Timotei noted that the saint was born into a large family in Suceava County, one of nine children, whose parents used to take them on pilgrimage to monasteries\u2014often on foot.<\/p>\n

At the end of his address, he thanked the saint\u2019s family, noting that her father and brothers are still alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am certain they all carry in their hearts what Schema-nun Elisabeta did for their family, for the region where she was born, and for this monastery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the greatest Romanian saints\u201d<\/h2>\n

Those attending the exhumation included Archimandrite Nectarie \u0218ofelea, Exarch of Monasteries in the Archdiocese of Bucharest; Protosyncellus Simeon Cu\u021bui, Cultural Exarch of the Archdiocese of Bucharest; Archdeacon Nicolae Iftimiu, Patriarchal Adviser and Director of the Basilica News Agency; Fr \u0218tefan Zar\u0103, Eparchial Adviser for Culture and Media Communications; R\u0103zvan Mihai Clipici, Patriarchal Adviser for Culture, Painting and Restoration; as well as the nuns and spiritual fathers of Pas\u0103rea Monastery.<\/p>\n

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Officiating the last memorial service in front of the relics of the newly canonised saint. Photo: Basilica.ro \/ Raluca Ene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI believe she is one of the greatest saints our Romanian people have brought forth, and I believe that this saint, although contemporary with us, reached the measure of holiness of the venerable ascetics of old,\u201d R\u0103zvan Mihai Clipici told Radio Trinitas.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany miracles are known\u2014both during her lifetime and after her repose\u2014many healings, many remarkable events involving people who needed a word of blessing at a decisive moment in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The patriarchal adviser also recalled that Saint Elizabeth lived as a hermit alongside other unknown ascetics, leaving written testimony about the struggles of the fathers she met in the wilderness, especially Father Zinon and Father Nazarie.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Basilica.ro \/ Raluca Ene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last year, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church announced the canonisation of 16 holy women: nuns, wives and mothers (martyrs, monastics, wives of rulers, mothers of saints, and confessors).<\/p>\n

Their canonisation will be formally proclaimed this year, designated within the Romanian Patriarchate as the Commemorative Year of the Holy Women of the Calendar<\/a> (Myrrhbearers, martyrs, nuns, wives and mothers).<\/p>\n

The life of Saint Elizabeth of Pas\u0103rea<\/h2>\n

She was born on 16 July 1970 in Moldova-Suli\u021ba, Suceava County, and was baptised Rodica. Her parents, Vasile and Maria Laz\u0103r, had eleven children, two of whom died in early childhood. In September 1986, aged 16, she entered Pas\u0103rea Monastery after a pilgrimage with two cousins, during which they sought guidance from several spiritual fathers.<\/p>\n

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Mosaic icon of Saint Elizabeth of Pasarea inside Romania’s National Cathedral. Photo: Doxologia.ro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 12 December 1990, she was clothed as a novice by Archimandrite Macarie Ioni\u021b\u0103, spiritual father of Pas\u0103rea Monastery, receiving the name Elisabeta. She was assigned obedience at the Romanian Patriarchate\u2019s metalwork workshop at Pas\u0103rea Monastery.<\/p>\n

In 1996, she was transferred to the Romanian Settlement in Jerusalem, where she served as sacristan and chanter. In the Holy Land, she became gravely ill, and doctors gave her little chance of survival. She prayed to Saint John Jacob of Neam\u021b, during which her soul separated from her body, travelling through hell and heaven, and she received counsel from Saint John Jacob to follow him into a life of quietness in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

She returned to Romania, where she lived as a hermit in the Giumal\u0103u Mountains and the Neam\u021b Mountains. On 6 August 1998, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, she received the lesser schema and the name Theodora, and on 19 April 2006, she received the great schema with the name Elisabeta.<\/p>\n

In 2014, weakened by cancer, she returned to Pas\u0103rea Monastery, where she continued the rule of prayer and ascetic discipline she had acquired in the wilderness. At the age of 44, on 5 June 2014, she fell asleep in the Lord.<\/p>\n