{"id":581835,"date":"2026-07-23T13:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=581835"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:24:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:24:35","slug":"archbishop-victorin-ursache-commemorated-putna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/archbishop-victorin-ursache-commemorated-putna\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop Victorin Ursache commemorated at Putna Monastery 25 years after his repose"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archbishop Victorin Ursache, who led the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Archdiocese in America and Canada from 1966 to 2001<\/a>, was commemorated at Putna Monastery on Saturday, 18 July, marking 25 years since his repose in the Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His Grace Damaschin of Dorna, Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Suceava and R\u0103d\u0103u\u021bi, officiated a memorial service in the monastery\u2019s princely church and then spoke about three essential virtues of the late hierarch. The first was his respect for proper ecclesiastical order.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaised in a family of faithful people, he preserved throughout his life what he had learned there. He never forgot what he had acquired at Neam\u021b Monastery, where he entered as a novice, received the monastic tonsure and was ordained deacon and priest, wherever God later appointed him to serve the Church\u2014neither in Jerusalem nor during his nearly 50 years in America,\u201d the bishop emphasised.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Order, self-sacrifice and fidelity<\/h2>\n

The second virtue of Archbishop Victorin was his spirit of self-sacrifice, Bishop Damaschin continued. This was evident both in the family of nine siblings in which he grew up and during the pioneering years of his missionary work in the Holy Land and later in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe frequently travelled hundreds of kilometres across the vast American continent to Romanian parishes\u2014scattered and few in number at first\u2014to celebrate services and meet Romanians, with a simplicity accompanied by faithful observance of his spiritual rule,\u201d the Assistant Bishop explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes he would hear that a few Romanians were living in a particular town or city. He did not know them. He would travel there by bus and search the telephone directory for Romanian names\u2014one or two names. In this way, he would meet them, offer them guidance, and a community, a Romanian parish, would gradually begin to take shape.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bishop Damaschin added that the third virtue of Archbishop Victorin Ursache was his fidelity to the Romanian Orthodox Church, in a context in which Romanians in America were divided ecclesiastically.<\/p>\n

Metropolitan Nicolae\u2019s message<\/h2>\n
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The memorial service held on Saturday, July 18, 2026, in the princely church of Putna Monastery was followed by a Trisagion at the tomb of Archbishop Victorin Ursache in the monastery’s cemetery. Photo: Putna Monastery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the service in the church, Bishop Damaschin celebrated a Trisagion at the hierarch\u2019s grave in the cemetery of Putna Monastery. Archimandrite Melchisedec Velnic then read a message sent by Metropolitan Nicolae of the Americas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people whom God places in history to become landmarks for a generation and foundations for those who will follow. Their lives are not confined to the period in which they lived, but continue to bear fruit through the work they accomplished, the faith they confessed and the example they left behind,\u201d Metropolitan Nicolae said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a person was the ever-memorable Archbishop Victorin Ursache, shepherd, missionary, monk and spiritual father of Romanian Orthodox Christians in North America. Today, 25 years later, his memory remains alive in our hearts, and with great joy and gratitude, we gather the fruits of his life and ministry.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cLooking today at the legacy he left us, we understand that his true strength did not lie in the authority of the office he held, but in the authenticity of his life,\u201d Metropolitan Nicolae stressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the end, he remained the monk formed in the spirit of Moldavia\u2019s great lavras, preserving unaltered the discipline of prayer, obedience and humility. Although he carried upon his shoulders responsibility for a vast diocese during difficult times, he never ceased to be the monk who placed all his hope in God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biographical volume<\/h2>\n
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Archimandrite Dosoftei Dijm\u0103rescu, from the Putna monastic community, presented a biographical volume dedicated to the late Romanian archbishop. Photo: Putna Monastery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his message, the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas also referred to the book dedicated to Archbishop Victorin Ursache by Archimandrite Ieremia Berbec, abbot of the Romanian Orthodox Monastery of St Demetrius the New in Middletown, New York, and a former monk of Putna.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the archival documents used, the correspondence published and the numerous testimonies collected, readers have the opportunity to discover not only the biography of a hierarch, but also the drama, beauty and complexity of the history of Romanian Orthodoxy in North America during the second half of the twentieth century,\u201d Metropolitan Nicolae said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts pages contain not only the deeds of one man, but also the struggle of a generation that sought to preserve the ancestral faith in a new and often unfavourable world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archimandrite Dosoftei Dijm\u0103rescu, a member of the Putna monastic community, then presented the book. The volume was produced as part of a project funded by Romania\u2019s State Secretariat for Religious Affairs to mark 560 years since the laying of the foundation stone of Putna Monastery and was printed with the support of the Cultural Department of the Archdiocese of Suceava and R\u0103d\u0103u\u021bi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis book shows very clearly how Archbishop Victorin united truth and love,\u201d Archimandrite Dosoftei Dijm\u0103rescu said. \u201cWe come to understand the circumstances in which he served Christ, became united with Christ and sanctified his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book on the life of Archbishop Victorin Ursache, published by Putna Monastery\u2019s Nicodim Caligraful Publishing House, may be downloaded in full from the monastery\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n