OrthodoxWiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:June 2

2007-05-29T12:25:28Z

James:

This source (which gets several details wrong and appears to confuse Belgrade with Bilhorod and Sochi with Suceava) http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=101582 was recently brought to my attention. I'm absolutely certain that this is the same saint as St. John the New of Suceava and so surely the two names should not appear on this page as though they were separate saints?

I would suggest that 'John the New of Sochi who suffered at Belgrade' is nothing more than a very poor, and confusing, translation of 'John the New of Suceava who suffered at Cetatea Alba'. It is particularly confusing as in English it implies two wholly diferent cities from the ones in which the martyr suffered and where his relics are, so I'd suggest that editting the page to remove it. I am slightly hesitant to do so unilaterally, however, as there is a small possibility that these are two separate saints in reality and that the OCA merely rather confusingly attributed the life of one to the other. I think the chance of this is very slim indeed, but it's sufficient to make me hesitant.

I've also just noticed that John of Aspokastron is also on the page and is linked through to the article of John the New of Suceava, that means that I think we have three different references to the same saint, one of which I believe to be a spurious translation (John of Sochi), one of which seems to be an alternative title in Greek (John of Aspokastron) and one which is incorect in designating him as a confessor (he is Great Martyr St. John the New of Suceava - there is no other St. John the New of Suceava). I'm not sure what you might want to do about alternative titles for any given saint, but it seems to me that the entry for the feasts on a given day should only refer to a particular saint once, otherwise it looks like you have more than one individual referred to.

Talk:June 2

2007-05-29T09:54:02Z

James: New page: This source (which gets several details wrong and appears to confuse Belgrade with Bilhorod and Sochi with Suceava) http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=101582 was recently brou...

Talk:Theosis

2005-04-07T09:47:28Z

James:

I don't think you ought to be using the term 'Yesu' here. You're writing in English and so Jesus would be more appropriate.[[User:James|James]] 08:56, 6 Apr 2005 (EDT)

:This article has a strange emphasis and cites not-Orthodox texts as Scripture. I'm removing it and replacing it with the Wikipedia article on Theosis, which itself will need some modification. The possible source of this material was [http://church-of-the-east.org/theology/theosis.htm]. [[User:FrJohn|Fr. John]] 15:23, 6 Apr 2005 (EDT)

:: At first I thought this "Church of the East" might be the Nestorians, but when I looked at the front page and noticed the bit about [http://church-of-the-east.org/sacred%20sensuality/sacred_sensuality.shtml "sacred sensuality"], I became much more suspicious. This group isn't even as Orthodox as the Nestorians. --[[User:ASDamick|Rdr. Andrew]] 19:47, 6 Apr 2005 (EDT)

::: Oh dear, when I criticised the use of Yeshu, I didn't bother reading the article much as the English was so poor. If I had I wouldn't have bothered with such a minor point. I've actually come across this 'church' before via an online forum, whilst discussing Orthodoxy with a distinctly Gnostic person. They seem like a New Age group jumping on the Thomasite lineage in the East as an attempt to gain legitimacy. Even their grasp of Church history seems very poor.

John Cassian

2005-04-06T13:04:29Z

James:

[[Image:John Cassian.jpg|right|frame|St. John Cassian]]
Our venerable and God-bearing Father '''John Cassian''' was a 4th/5th century [[monastic]] saint known for his writings on the monastic life and for correctives of the anti-[[Pelagianism|Pelagian]] writings of St. [[Augustine of Hippo]]. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is [[February 29]] (celebrated on [[February 28]] in non-leap years), and it is also kept locally in Marseilles, France, on [[July 23]].

==Life==
St. John was born in the Danube Delta in what is now Dobrogea, Romania, in about 360. In 382 he entered a [[monastery]] in Bethlehem and after several years there was granted permission, along with his friend St. [[Germanus of Dobrogea]], to visit the [[Desert Fathers]] in Egypt. They remained in Egypt until 399 except for a brief period when they returned to Bethlehem and were released from the monastery there.

Upon leaving Egypt they went to Constantinople where they met St. [[John Chrysostom]], who ordained St. John Cassian as a deacon. He had to leave Constantinople in 403 when Chrysostom was exiled, and eventually settled close to Marseilles where he was ordained [[priest]] and founded two monasteries, one for women and one for men.

St. John's most famous works are the ''Institutes'', which detail how to live the monastic life, and the ''Conferences'', which provide details of conversations between John and Germanus and the Desert Fathers. He also warned against some of the excesses in St. [[Augustine of Hippo]]'s theology whilst refraining from criticising him by name. For this reason he has sometimes been accused of [[Semi-Pelagianism]] by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and some Protestant commentators.

St. John died peacefully in 435.

[[Category:Church Fathers]]
[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

User:James

2005-04-06T13:02:57Z

James: /* Articles */

My, rather unwieldy, name is James Harry Karl Meyer-Bejdl. I was born in Chatham, England in 1975 into an extremely mixed but predominantly German/Czech family, the family being scattered across Europe from Britain to Slovakia due to the wars and politics of the 20th century.

I am a convert to Orthodoxy having been brought up Lutheran (though I mostly attended Anglican services due to a lack of Lutheran churches in Britain). I first came into contact with the Orthodox Church in Romania whilst working for a charity at the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Bucovina. My investigation of and eventual conversion to Orthodoxy was triggered by the example of a wonderful monk at the monastery of St. [[John the New of Suceava]]. I, unfortunately, never got his name but I owe him a great debt.

I eventually married in the 15th century church of Sf. Nicolae in Balinesti, the village near Siret from which my wife comes, but we've now settled down in Britain. When I was Chrismated in the Orthodox Church I took St. [[James the Persian]] as my patron, partly because his life inspired me a great deal and partly because he is less commonly venerated than other Sts. James.

I hope I shall be able to contribute articles on the [[Church of Romania]] here, and particularly the Romanian saints who are relatively unknown in the west.

== Articles ==
The following are articles which I have either added to OrthodoxWiki or to which I have contributed. I hope to expand the list significantly over time, particularly those articles on Romanian saints, monasteries and churches.

*[[Church of Romania]]
*[[Daniel the Hermit]]
*[[Diocletian]]
*[[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
*[[Humor Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[John Cassian]]
*[[John the New of Suceava]]
*[[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Sansala]]
*[[Sava the Goth]]
*[[Stephen the Great]]
*[[Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania]]
*[[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]

Talk:Theosis

2005-04-06T12:56:28Z

James:

I don't think you ought to be using the term 'Yesu' here. You're writing in English and so Jesus would be more appropriate.[[User:James|James]] 08:56, 6 Apr 2005 (EDT)

Humor Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)

2005-04-05T13:42:59Z

James:

'''Humor''' monastery is a women's monastery built in 1530 by the ''voievod Petru Rareş'' and his chancellor ''Teodor Bubuiog'' on the site of a previous monastery built before 1415. The monastery was closed in 1786 and was not re-established until 1990. It is situated about 50 km north of the town of Gura Humorului. Petru Rareş and his wife are both buried in the monastery church, which is dedicated to the [[Dormition]] of the [[Theotokos]].

==Frescoes==
Humor was one of the first of Bucovina's painted monasteries to be frescoed and, along with [[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)|Voroneţ]] is probably the best preserved. The dominant colour of the frescoes is a reddish brown. The master painter responsible for Humor's frescoes, which were painted in 1535, is one ''Toma of Suceava''.
The subjects of the frescoes at Humor include the ''Siege of Constantinople'' and the ''Last Judgement'', common on the exterior of the painted monasteries of Bucovina, but also the ''Hymn to the Virgin'' inspired by the poem of Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople relating to the miraculous intervention of the Theotokos in saving the city from Persian conquest in 626. The Persians are, however, depicted as Turks which is a common device in these monasteries, their paintings being used in part for political propaganda in addition to their spiritual meaning.

[[Category:Monasteries]]
[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]
[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Humor Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)

2005-04-05T13:40:34Z

James:

'''Humor''' monastery is a women's monastery built in 1530 by the ''voievod'' Petru Rareş and his chancellor ''Teodor Bubuiog'' on the site of a previous monastery built before 1415. The monastery was closed in 1786 and was not re-established until 1990. It is situated about 50 km north of the town of Gura Humorului. Petru Rareş and his wife are both buried in the monastery church, which is dedicated to the [[Dormition]] of the [[Theotokos]].

==Frescoes==
Humor was one of the first of Bucovina's painted monasteries to be frescoed and, along with [[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)|Voroneţ]] is probably the best preserved. The dominant colour of the frescoes is a reddish brown. The master painter responsible for Humor's frescoes, which were painted in 1535, is one ''Toma of Suceava''.
The subjects of the frescoes at Humor include the ''Siege of Constantinople'' and the ''Last Judgement'', common on the exterior of the painted monasteries of Bucovina, but also the ''Hymn to the Virgin'' inspired by the poem of Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople relating to the miraculous intervention of the Theotokos in saving the city from Persian conquest in 626. The Persians are, however, depicted as Turks which is common device in these monasteries, their paintings being used in part for political propaganda in addition to their spiritual meaning.

[[Category:Monasteries]]
[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]
[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Daniel the Hermit

2005-04-05T10:24:11Z

James:

Our venerable and God-bearing Father '''Daniel the Hermit''' of Voroneţ, '''''Sf. Daniil Sihastru de la Voroneţ''''' in Romanian, was a 15th century monk and the spiritual father of [[Stephen the Great]], the Voievod of Moldova. Under his guidance, Stephen the Great defended Moldova from Ottoman invasion and dedicated himself and his rule to God.

Daniel lived alone for 14 years in a cell carved from a boulder in a forested valley close to [[Putna Monastery]], which is now used as a chapel according to the rules of Mount Athos. His [[relics]] are housed at [[Voronet Monastery|Voroneţ Monastery]] and he was officially glorified by the Synod of the [[Church of Romania]] in 1992. He fell asleep in 1496 and his feast day is [[December 18]].

== Life ==

Daniel was born into a poor family in a village close to Rădăuţi in the early years of 15th century. He was baptised with the name Dumitru but took the name David when he entered the cathedral monastery at Rădăuţi. Here he learnt to follow the monastic life but eventually, wishing to lead a truly holy life away from the temptations of the world, he retired to the St. Laurence Skete in the community of Vicovul de Sus. Here he entered the [[Great Schema]] with the name Daniel (''Daniil'').

Later he went to live alone in a small cell carved from a rock in the Putna valley. Eventually, he became the spiritual father of Prince [[Stephen the Great]] of Moldova whom he advised for many years and who built, at Daniel's urging, [[Putna Monastery]] close to the site of his cell. After the death of Metropolitan [[Teoctist of Moldova]] in 1478, he left Putna and made himself a new cell, carving it from a cliff close to the river Voroneţ. He lived here in great poverty and unceasing prayer, earning wide reknown as a monk of great spiritual wisdom, and continued to encourage the Prince in his defense of Moldova against Turkish aggression. In 1488 [[Stephen the Great]] had another monastery, [[Voronet Monastery|Voroneţ]], built close to Daniel's new cell. On his death, Daniel was buried in this monastery.

{{stub}}

[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

John the New of Suceava

2005-04-05T10:21:23Z

James:

The holy, glorious and right-victorious Great-martyr '''John the New of Suceava''', '''''Sf. Mare Mucenic Ioan cel Nou de la Suceava''''', was born in Trebizond in Asia Minor in about 1300 to devout Orthodox parents. His father was a merchant and John followed in his footsteps. On a trading trip to Cetatea Albă, then part of Moldova but now Bilhorod-Dnistrovs'kyy in the Ukraine, he got to know a Venetian merchant named Reiz whilst they were sailing on the Black Sea. They dicussed the faith many times and, seeing that John always defeated his arguments, the Venetian decided to take revenge.

On arriving in Cetatea Albă, Reiz spread a rumour that John, despite being raised Christian was interested in the Muslim faith. Cetatea Albă at that time had been conquered by Muslim Tartars and when their ruler heard the rumour he called for John. He was taken before the ruler and asked if it was true that he wished to deny the Christian faith and become a Muslim. He responded that he would never give up his faith in the True God in order to worship created things or the inventions of men. This response offended the Tartar ruler who ordered John to renounce his faith on pain of torture. He refused to do so enduring many beatings and was eventually martyred by being dragged behind a horse through the streets of the city before having his head struck off by a 'fanatical Jew'. The year was 1330 and John was only about 30 years old.

On hearing of his death Reiz resolved to dig up the body of the martyr and steal it as a further act of revenge, but the Orthodox priest in the city had a dream of John who informed him of this crime and asked him to bring his body to the Orthodox Church. This was the first miracle of the great martyr. For years his relics were kept in Cetatea Albă where they became famous for healings and other miracles, but eventually Prince ('''''Voievod''''') Alexander the Good ('''''Alexandru cel Bun''''') heard of the martyr's relics and at the urging of Metropolitan Joseph ('''''Iosif''''') Muşat of Moldova arranged to have them brought to his capital, Suceava, on [[June 24]] 1402. John's incorrupt relics have been kept at the monastery bearing his name in that city until the present.

Saint John the New is one of the most venerated saints in Moldova and many miracles are associated with his relics. His feast days are on [[June 2]] and [[June 24]]

[[Category:Martyrs]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania

2005-03-24T15:25:14Z

James:

His Beatitude '''Teoctist (Arapaşu)''' is the fifth and current [[Archbishop]] of Bucharest and [[Patriarch]] of all [[Church of Romania|Romania]]. He was born in the village of Tocileni, Botoşani county, Moldova, to Dumitru and Marghioala Arapaşu on [[February 7]], 1915. He was baptised with the name Toader.

In 1928 he became a novice at Sihastria Voronei hermitage and later at Vorona Monastery, both in Botoşani county. In 1930 he entered the monastic seminary at [[Neamt Monastery (Moldova, Romania)|Neamţ Monastery]] and in 1935 took monastic vows at Bistriţa-Neamţ Monastery, receiving the name ''Teoctist''. In 1937 he was ordained as [[Deacon|hierodeacon]] and in 1945 as [[Presbyter|hieromonk]]. On [[March 5]], 1950, he was ordained [[bishop]] by Patriarch [[Iustinian (Marina) of Romania|Iustinian]].

On [[September 25]], 1977, he was elected [[Archbishop]] of Iaşi and [[Archbishop|Metropolitan]] of Moldova and Bucovina, and on [[November 19]], 1986, he was enthroned as Archbishop of Bucharest and Patriarch of all Romania.

After the December Revolution of 1989, Patriarch Teoctist offered his resignation to the [[Holy Synod]] in penitence for the Church compliance with some of the abuses of the previous communist regime. The Holy Synod chose to ask him to return to the position to which he had been elected in 1986 after receiving requests that he do so from faithful across Romania.

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Romania]]

Sansala

2005-03-24T12:46:55Z

James:

The holy '''Sansala''' the Confessor was a [[priest]] from the Buzău valley in Romania and the spiritual father of the Great-martyr [[Sava the Goth]]. He and Sava carried out missionary work in the area around Buzău, converting many pagan Dacians and Goths to Christianity.

In 372, Sansala and Sava were captured by the soldiers of King Athanaric of the Goths who had begun a great persecution of Christians. Both of the [[saints]] were ordered to sacrifice to idols and tortured upon their refusal to do so. St. Sansala courageously endured these tortures and was eventually released, but his [[chanter]] St. Sava was condemned to death and drowned in the River Buzău.

Sansala took the [[relics]] of the [[martyr]] and hid them until they could be taken out of the Gothic kingdom to the safety of the Roman Empire. The saint bravely remained in Dacia and continued his missionary activities which continued to meet with great success. He eventually died towards the end of the 4th century.

[[Category:Missionaries]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania

2005-03-24T10:49:49Z

James:

His Beatitude '''Teoctist (Arapaşu)''' is the fifth and current [[Patriarch]] of Bucharest and all Romania. He was born in the village of Tocileni, Botoşani county, Moldova to Dumitru and Marghioala Arapaşu on [[February 7]] 1915. He was baptised with the name Toader.

In 1928 he became a novice at Sihastria Voronei hermitage and later at Vorona Monastery, both in Botoşani county. In 1930 he entered the monastic seminary at [[Neamt Monastery (Moldova, Romania)|Neamţ Monastery]] and in 1935 took monastic vows at Bistriţa-Neamţ Monastery receiving the name Teoctist. In 1937 he was ordained as [[Deacon|hierodeacon]] and in 1945 as [[Presbyter|hieromonk]]. On [[March 5]] 1950, he was ordained [[bishop]] by Patriarch [[Iustinian (Marina) of Romania|Iustinian]].

On [[September 25]] 1977 he was elected [[Archbishop]] of Iaşi and [[Archbishop|Metropolitan]] of Moldova and Bucovina, and on [[November 19]] 1986 he was enthroned as Patriarch of Bucharest and all Romania.

After the December Revolution of 1989, Patriarch Teoctist offered his resignation to the Holy Synod in penitance for the Church compliance with some of the abuses of the previous communist regime. The Holy Synod chose to ask him to return to the position to which he had been elected in 1986 after receiving requests that he do so from faithful across Romania.

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Bucharest]]

User:James

2005-03-24T10:48:24Z

James: /* Articles */

My, rather unwieldy, name is James Harry Karl Meyer-Bejdl. I was born in Chatham, England in 1975 into an extremely mixed but predominantly German/Czech family, the family being scattered across Europe from Britain to Slovakia due to the wars and politics of the 20th century.

I am a convert to Orthodoxy having been brought up Lutheran (though I mostly attended Anglican services due to a lack of Lutheran churches in Britain). I first came into contact with the Orthodox Church in Romania whilst working for a charity at the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Bucovina. My investigation of and eventual conversion to Orthodoxy was triggered by the example of a wonderful monk at the monastery of St. [[John the New of Suceava]]. I, unfortunately, never got his name but I owe him a great debt.

I eventually married in the 15th century church of Sf. Nicolae in Balinesti, the village near Siret from which my wife comes, but we've now settled down in Britain. When I was Chrismated in the Orthodox Church I took St. [[James the Persian]] as my patron, partly because his life inspired me a great deal and partly because he is less commonly venerated than other Sts. James.

I hope I shall be able to contribute articles on the [[Church of Romania]] here, and particularly the Romanian saints who are relatively unknown in the west.

== Articles ==
The following are articles which I have either added to OrthodoxWiki or to which I have contributed. I hope to expand the list significantly over time, particularly those articles on Romanian saints, monasteries and churches.

*[[Church of Romania]]
*[[Daniel the Hermit]]
*[[Diocletian]]
*[[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
*[[John Cassian]]
*[[John the New of Suceava]]
*[[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Sansala]]
*[[Sava the Goth]]
*[[Stephen the Great]]
*[[Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania]]
*[[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]

User:James

2005-03-24T10:47:53Z

James: /* Articles */

My, rather unwieldy, name is James Harry Karl Meyer-Bejdl. I was born in Chatham, England in 1975 into an extremely mixed but predominantly German/Czech family, the family being scattered across Europe from Britain to Slovakia due to the wars and politics of the 20th century.

I am a convert to Orthodoxy having been brought up Lutheran (though I mostly attended Anglican services due to a lack of Lutheran churches in Britain). I first came into contact with the Orthodox Church in Romania whilst working for a charity at the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Bucovina. My investigation of and eventual conversion to Orthodoxy was triggered by the example of a wonderful monk at the monastery of St. [[John the New of Suceava]]. I, unfortunately, never got his name but I owe him a great debt.

I eventually married in the 15th century church of Sf. Nicolae in Balinesti, the village near Siret from which my wife comes, but we've now settled down in Britain. When I was Chrismated in the Orthodox Church I took St. [[James the Persian]] as my patron, partly because his life inspired me a great deal and partly because he is less commonly venerated than other Sts. James.

I hope I shall be able to contribute articles on the [[Church of Romania]] here, and particularly the Romanian saints who are relatively unknown in the west.

== Articles ==
The following are articles which I have either added to OrthodoxWiki or to which I have contributed. I hope to expand the list significantly over time, particularly those articles on Romanian saints, monasteries and churches.

*[[Church of Romania]]
*[[Daniel the Hermit]]
*[[Diocletian]]
*[[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
*[[John Cassian]]
*[[John the New of Suceava]]
*[[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Sansala]]
*[[Sava the Goth]]
*[[Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Stephen the Great]]
*[[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania]]
*[[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]

Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania

2005-03-24T10:46:36Z

James:

His Beatitude Teoctist (Arapaşu) is the fifth and current [[Patriarch]] of Bucharest and all Romania. He was born in the village of Tocileni, Botoşani county, Moldova to Dumitru and Marghioala Arapaşu on [[February 7]] 1915. He was baptised with the name Toader.

In 1928 he became a novice at Sihastria Voronei hermitage and later at Vorona Monastery, both in Botoşani county. In 1930 he entered the monastic seminary at [[Neamt Monastery (Moldova, Romania)|Neamţ Monastery]] and in 1935 took monastic vows at Bistriţa-Neamţ Monastery receiving the name Teoctist. In 1937 he was ordained as [[Deacon|hierodeacon]] and in 1945 as [[Presbyter|hieromonk]]. On [[March 5]] 1950, he was ordained [[bishop]] by Patriarch [[Iustinian (Marina) of Romania|Iustinian]].

On [[September 25]] 1977 he was elected [[Archbishop]] of Iaşi and [[Archbishop|Metropolitan]] of Moldova and Bucovina, and on [[November 19]] 1986 he was enthroned as Patriarch of Bucharest and all Romania.

After the December Revolution of 1989, Patriarch Teoctist offered his resignation to the Holy Synod in penitance for the Church compliance with some of the abuses of the previous communist regime. The Holy Synod chose to ask him to return to the position to which he had been elected in 1986 after receiving requests that he do so from faithful across Romania.

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Bucharest]]

Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania

2005-03-24T10:44:58Z

James:

His Beatitude Teoctist (Arapaşu) is the fifth and current [[Patriarch]] of Bucharest and all Romania. He was born in the village of Tocileni, Botoşani county, Moldova to Dumitru and Marghioala Arapaşu on [[February 7]] 1915. He was baptised with the name Toader.

In 1928 he became a novice at Sihastria Voronei hermitage and later at Vorona Monastery, both in Botoşani county. In 1930 he entered the monastic seminary at [[Neamt Monastery (Moldova, Romania)|Neamţ Monastery]] and in 1935 took monastic vows at Bistriţa-Neamţ Monastery receiving the name Teoctist. In 1937 he was ordained as [[Deacon|hierodeacon]] and in 1945 as [[Presbyter|hieromonk]]. On [[March 5]] 1950, he was ordained [[bishop]] by Patriarch [[Justinian]].

On [[September 25]] 1977 he was elected [[Archbishop]] of Iaşi and [[Archbishop|Metropolitan]] of Moldova and Bucovina, and on [[November 19]] 1986 he was enthroned as Patriarch of Bucharest and all Romania.

After the December Revolution of 1989, Patriarch Teoctist offered his resignation to the Holy Synod in penitance for the Church compliance with some of the abuses of the previous communist regime. The Holy Synod chose to ask him to return to the position to which he had been elected in 1986 after receiving requests that he do so from faithful across Romania.

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Bucharest]]

Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania

2005-03-24T10:43:40Z

James:

His Beatitude Teoctist (Arapaşu) is the fifth and current [[Patriarch]] of Bucharest and all Romania. He was born in the village of Tocileni, Botoşani county, Moldova to Dumitru and Marghioala Arapaşu on [[February 7]] 1915. He was baptised with the name Toader.

In 1928 he became a novice at Sihastria Voronei hermitage and later at Vorona Monastery, both in Botoşani county. In 1930 he entered the monastic seminary at [[Neamt Monastery (Moldova, Romania)|Neamţ Monastery]] and in 1935 took monastic vows at Bistriţa-Neamţ Monastery receiving the name Teoctist. In 1937 he was ordained as [[Deacon|hierodeacon]] and in 1945 as [[Presbyter|hieromonk]]. On [[March 5]] 1950, he was ordained [[bishop]] by Patriarch Justinian.

On [[September 25]] 1977 he was elected [[Archbishop]] of Iaşi and [[Metropolitan]] of Moldova and Bucovina, and on [[November 19]] 1986 he was enthroned as Patriarch of Bucharest and all Romania.

After the December Revolution of 1989, Patriarch Teoctist offered his resignation to the Holy Synod in penitance for the Church compliance with some of the abuses of the previous communist regime. The Holy Synod chose to ask him to return to the position to which he had been elected in 1986 after receiving requests that he do so from faithful across Romania.

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Bucharest]]

Presbyter

2005-03-24T10:42:01Z

James: /* Modern usage */

'''''Presbyter''''' is, in the [[Bible]], a synonym for ''[[bishop]]'' (''episkopos''), referring to a leader in local Church congregations. In modern usage, it is distinct from ''bishop'' and synonymous with '''''priest'''''. Its literal meaning in Greek (''presbyteros'') is "elder."

{{stub}}

== History ==
The earliest organization of the [[Christian]] churches in Palestine was similar to that of [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[synagogue]]s, who were governed by a council of elders (''presbyteroi''). In [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 11:30 and 15:22, we see this collegiate system of government in Jerusalem, and in Acts 14:23, the [[Apostle Paul]] ordains elders in the churches he founded. Initially, these '''presbyters''' were apparently identical with the '''overseers''' (''episkopoi'', i.e., [[bishop]]s), as such passages as Acts 20:17 and [[Book of Titus|Titus]] 1:5,7 indicate, and the terms were interchangeable.

Shortly after the [[New Testament]] period, with the death of the [[Apostles]], there was a differentiation in the usage of the synonymous terms, giving rise to the appearance of two distinct offices, '''[[bishop]]''' and '''presbyter'''. The bishop was understood mainly as the president of the council of presbyters, and so the bishop came to be distinguished both in honor and in prerogative from the presbyters, who were seen as deriving their authority by means of delegation from the bishop. The distinction between presbyter and bishop is made fairly soon after the Apostolic period, as is seen in the 2nd century writings of St. [[Ignatius of Antioch]], who uses the terms consistently and clearly to refer to two different offices (along with ''[[deacon]]'').

Initially, each local congregation in the Church had its own bishop. Eventually, as the Church grew, individual congregations no longer were served directly by a bishop. The bishop in a large city would appoint a presbyter to pastor the flock in each congregation, acting as his delegate.

== Modern usage ==
The [[Orthodox Church]] often refers to presbyters in English as ''priests'' (''priest'' is etymologically derived from the Greek ''presbyteros'' via the Latin ''presbyter''). This usage is seen by some Protestant Christians as stripping the [[laity]] of its rightful priestly status, while those who use the term defend its usage by saying that, while they do believe in the ''priesthood'' of all believers, they do not believe in the ''eldership'' of all believers.

Presbyters are often referred to as ''Father'', though that is not an official title. Rather, it is a term of affection used by Christians for their ordained elders.

Monastics who are ordained to the priesthood are known as ''hieromonk''.

== Sources ==
*Liddell & Scott, ''An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon'', pp. 301, 668
*''The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary'', p. 2297
*''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.)'', p. 1322

[[Category:Clergy]]

Presbyter

2005-03-24T10:41:43Z

James: /* Modern usage */

'''''Presbyter''''' is, in the [[Bible]], a synonym for ''[[bishop]]'' (''episkopos''), referring to a leader in local Church congregations. In modern usage, it is distinct from ''bishop'' and synonymous with '''''priest'''''. Its literal meaning in Greek (''presbyteros'') is "elder."

{{stub}}

== History ==
The earliest organization of the [[Christian]] churches in Palestine was similar to that of [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[synagogue]]s, who were governed by a council of elders (''presbyteroi''). In [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 11:30 and 15:22, we see this collegiate system of government in Jerusalem, and in Acts 14:23, the [[Apostle Paul]] ordains elders in the churches he founded. Initially, these '''presbyters''' were apparently identical with the '''overseers''' (''episkopoi'', i.e., [[bishop]]s), as such passages as Acts 20:17 and [[Book of Titus|Titus]] 1:5,7 indicate, and the terms were interchangeable.

Shortly after the [[New Testament]] period, with the death of the [[Apostles]], there was a differentiation in the usage of the synonymous terms, giving rise to the appearance of two distinct offices, '''[[bishop]]''' and '''presbyter'''. The bishop was understood mainly as the president of the council of presbyters, and so the bishop came to be distinguished both in honor and in prerogative from the presbyters, who were seen as deriving their authority by means of delegation from the bishop. The distinction between presbyter and bishop is made fairly soon after the Apostolic period, as is seen in the 2nd century writings of St. [[Ignatius of Antioch]], who uses the terms consistently and clearly to refer to two different offices (along with ''[[deacon]]'').

Initially, each local congregation in the Church had its own bishop. Eventually, as the Church grew, individual congregations no longer were served directly by a bishop. The bishop in a large city would appoint a presbyter to pastor the flock in each congregation, acting as his delegate.

== Modern usage ==
The [[Orthodox Church]] often refers to presbyters in English as ''priests'' (''priest'' is etymologically derived from the Greek ''presbyteros'' via the Latin ''presbyter''). This usage is seen by some Protestant Christians as stripping the [[laity]] of its rightful priestly status, while those who use the term defend its usage by saying that, while they do believe in the ''priesthood'' of all believers, they do not believe in the ''eldership'' of all believers.

Presbyters are often referred to as ''Father'', though that is not an official title. Rather, it is a term of affection used by Christians for their ordained elders.

Monastics who are ordained to the priesthood are known as ''heiromonk''.

== Sources ==
*Liddell & Scott, ''An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon'', pp. 301, 668
*''The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary'', p. 2297
*''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.)'', p. 1322

[[Category:Clergy]]

Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania

2005-03-24T10:38:19Z

James:

His Beatitude Teoctist (Arapaşu) is the fifth and current [[Patriarch]] of Bucharest and all Romania. He was born in the village of Tocileni, Botoşani county, Moldova to Dumitru and Marghioala Arapaşu on [[February 7]] 1915. He was baptised with the name Toader.

In 1928 he became a novice at Sihastria Voronei hermitage and later at Vorona Monastery, both in Botoşani county. In 1930 he entered the monastic seminary at [[Neamt Monastery (Moldova, Romania)|Neamţ Monastery]] and in 1935 took monastic vows at Bistriţa-Neamţ Monastery receiving the name Teoctist. In 1937 he was ordained as [[heirodeacon]] and in 1945 as [[heiromonk]]. On [[March 5]] 1950, he was ordained [[bishop]] by Patriarch Justinian.

On [[September 25]] 1977 he was elected [[Archbishop]] of Iaşi and [[Metropolitan]] of Moldova and Bucovina, and on [[November 19]] 1986 he was enthroned as Patriarch of Bucharest and all Romania.

After the December Revolution of 1989, Patriarch Teoctist offered his resignation to the Holy Synod in penitance for the Church compliance with some of the abuses of the previous communist regime. The Holy Synod chose to ask him to return to the position to which he had been elected in 1986 after receiving requests that he do so from faithful across Romania.

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Patriarchs of Bucharest]]

Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania

2005-03-24T10:37:13Z

James:

His Beatitude Teoctist (Arapaşu) is the fifth and current [[Patriarch]] of Bucharest and all Romania. He was born in the village of Tocileni, Botoşani county, Moldova to Dumitru and Marghioala Arapaşu on [[February 7]] 1915. He was baptised with the name Toader.

In 1928 he became a novice at Sihastria Voronei hermitage and later at Vorona Monastery, both in Botoşani county. In 1930 he entered the monastic seminary at [[Neamt Monastery (Moldova, Romania)|Neamţ Monastery]] and in 1935 took monastic vows at Bistriţa-Neamţ Monastery receiving the name Teoctist. In 1937 he was ordained as [[heirodeacon]] and in 1945 as [[heiromonk]]. On [[March 5]] 1950, he was ordained [[bishop]] by Patriarch Justinian.

On [[September 25]] 1977 he was elected [[Archbishop]] of Iaşi and [[Metropolitan]] of Moldova and Bucovina, and on [[November 19]] 1986 he was enthroned as Patriarch of Bucharest and all Romania.

After the December Revolution of 1989, Patriarch Teoctist offered his resignation to the Holy Synod in penitance for the Church compliance with some of the abuses of the previous communist regime. The Holy Synod chose to ask him to return to the position to which he had been elected in 1986 after receiving requests that he do so from faithful across Romania.

[[Category:Bishops]]

User:James

2005-03-23T16:12:31Z

James:

My, rather unwieldy, name is James Harry Karl Meyer-Bejdl. I was born in Chatham, England in 1975 into an extremely mixed but predominantly German/Czech family, the family being scattered across Europe from Britain to Slovakia due to the wars and politics of the 20th century.

I am a convert to Orthodoxy having been brought up Lutheran (though I mostly attended Anglican services due to a lack of Lutheran churches in Britain). I first came into contact with the Orthodox Church in Romania whilst working for a charity at the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Bucovina. My investigation of and eventual conversion to Orthodoxy was triggered by the example of a wonderful monk at the monastery of St. [[John the New of Suceava]]. I, unfortunately, never got his name but I owe him a great debt.

I eventually married in the 15th century church of Sf. Nicolae in Balinesti, the village near Siret from which my wife comes, but we've now settled down in Britain. When I was Chrismated in the Orthodox Church I took St. [[James the Persian]] as my patron, partly because his life inspired me a great deal and partly because he is less commonly venerated than other Sts. James.

I hope I shall be able to contribute articles on the [[Church of Romania]] here, and particularly the Romanian saints who are relatively unknown in the west.

== Articles ==
The following are articles which I have either added to OrthodoxWiki or to which I have contributed. I hope to expand the list significantly over time, particularly those articles on Romanian saints, monasteries and churches.

*[[Church of Romania]]
*[[Daniel the Hermit]]
*[[Diocletian]]
*[[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
*[[John Cassian]]
*[[John the New of Suceava]]
*[[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Sansala]]
*[[Sava the Goth]]
*[[Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Stephen the Great]]
*[[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]

Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)

2005-03-23T16:10:07Z

James:

'''Suceviţa''' is the largest and also the last built of the painted monasteries of Bucovina. It was built in 1581 by the Bishop of Rădăuţi, Gheorghe Movila. It is situated in the village of the same name in the foothills of the Carpathians west of Rădăuţi. Like all the painted monasteries, the church, dedicated to the [[Dormition]] of the [[Theotokos]], is frescoed inside and out. The monastery is surrounded by thick, fortified walls built by the ''Voievod'' Ieremiah Movila, brother of Bishop Gheorghe. Both the Movila brothers are buried at the monastery.

==Frescoes==
The frescoes at Suceviţa are painted on a green background and are the work of two master painters, Ioan and his brother Sofronie from Suceava. The two most outstanding frescoes are the ''Ladder of Virtue'', showing the saints ascending to heaven whilst sinners (depicted as Turks) fall down to be taken by demons, and the ''Last Judgement'', which was left unfinished when its painter fell from the scaffold and died. Another painting of note is that of the ''Siege of Constantinople'', showing the degree to which this event affected the Orthodox Christians of Moldova.

[[Category:Monasteries]]
[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]
[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)

2005-03-23T16:09:28Z

James:

'''Suceviţa''' is the largest and also the last built of the painted monasteries of Bucovina. It was built in 1581 by the Bishop of Rădăuţi, Gheorghe Movila. It is situated in the village of the same name in the foothills of the Carpathians west of Rădăuţi. Like all the painted monasteries, the church, dedicated to the [[Dormition]] of the [[Theotokos]], is frescoed inside and out. The monastery is surrounded by thick, fortified walls built by the ''Voievod'' Ieremiah Movila, brother of Bishop Gheorghe. Both the Movila brothers are buried at the monastery.

==Frescoes==
The frescoes at Suceviţa are painted on a green background and are the work of two master painters, Ioan and his brother Sofronie from Suceava. The two most outstanding frescoes are the ''Ladder of Virtue'', showing the saints ascending to heaven whilst sinners (depicted as Turks) fall down to be taken by demons, and the ''Last Judgement'', which was left unfinished when its painter fell from the scaffold and died. Another painting of note is that of the ''Siege of Constantinople'', showing the degree to which this event affected the Orthodox Christians of Moldova.

[[Category|Monasteries]]
[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]
[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)

2005-03-23T16:08:30Z

James:

'''Suceviţa''' is the largest and also the last built of the painted monasteries of Bucovina. It was built in 1581 by the Bishop of Rădăuţi, Gheorghe Movila. It is situated in the village of the same name in the foothills of the Carpathians west of Rădăuţi. Like all the painted monasteries, the church, dedicated to the [[Dormition]] of the [[Theotokos]], is frescoed inside and out. The monastery is surrounded by thick, fortified walls built by the ''Voievod'' Ieremiah Movila, brother of Bishop Gheorghe. Both the Movila brothers are buried at the monastery.

==Frescoes==
The frescoes at Suceviţa are painted on a green background and are the work of two master painters, Ioan and his brother Sofronie from Suceava. The two most outstanding frescoes are the ''Ladder of Virtue'', showing the saints ascending to heaven whilst sinners (depicted as Turks) fall down to be taken by demons, and the ''Last Judgement'', which was left unfinished when its painter fell from the scaffold and died. Another painting of note is that of the ''Siege of Constantinople'', showing the degree to which this event affected the Orthodox Christians of Moldova.

[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]
[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Church of Romania

2005-03-23T13:35:54Z

James: /* Churches and Monasteries */

The '''Church of Romania''' is one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] Orthodox churches. The majority of Romanians in Romania by a very wide margin (about 20 million, or 86.7% of the population, according to the 2002 census data) belong to it. In terms of population, the Church of Romania is second in size only to the [[Church of Russia]].

[[Image:Romanian_hieromonk.jpg|350px|thumb|A Romanian [[hieromonk]]]]
In the Romanian language it is most often known as '''Ortodoxie''', but is also sometimes known as '''Dreapta credinţă''' ("right/correct belief"—compare to Greek ''ορθοδοξια'', "straight/correct belief"). Orthodox believers are also known as '''ortodocşi''', '''dreptcredincioşi''' or '''dreptmăritori creştini'''.

The current primate is His Beatitude [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist (Arapaşu)]], Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, and Patriarch of All Romania, ''Locum Tenens'' of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

==History==
Some Romanian Orthodox regard their church to be the first national, first attested, and first [[apostles|apostolic]] church in Europe and view the [[Apostle Andrew]] as the church's founder.

Most historians, however, hold that Christianity was brought to Romania by the occupying Romans. The Roman province had traces of all imperial religions, including Mithraism, but Christianity, a ''religio illicita'', existed among some of the Romans.

The Roman Empire soon found it was too costly to maintain a permanent garrison north of the lower Danube. As a whole, from 106 AD a permanent military and administrative Roman presence was registered only until 276 AD. (In comparison, Britain was militarily occupied by Romans for more than six centuries—and English is certainly not a Romance language, while the Church of England had no Archbishop before the times of Pope St. [[Gregory the Dialogist|Gregory the Great]].) Clearly, Dacians must have been favored linguistically and religiously by some unique ethnological features, so that after only 169 years of an anemic military occupation they emerged as a major Romance people, strongly represented religiously at the first [[Ecumenical Councils]], as the Ante-Nicene Fathers duly recorded.

When the Romanians formed as a people, it is quite clear that they already had the Christian faith, as proved by tradition, as well as by some interesting archeological and linguistic evidence. Basic terms of Christianity are of Latin origin: such as ''church'' (''biserică'' from ''basilica''), ''God'' (''Dumnezeu'' from ''Domine Deus''), ''Pascha'' (''Paşti'' from ''Paschae''), ''Pagan'' (''Păgân'' from ''Paganus''), ''Angel'' (''Înger'' from ''Angelus''). Some of them (especially ''Biserica'') are unique to Orthodoxy as it is found in Romania.

Very few traces can be found in the Romanian names that are left from the Roman Christianity after the Slavic influence began. All the names of the saints were preserved in Latin form: ''Sântămăria'' (the [[Theotokos]]), ''Sâmpietru'' ([[Apostle Peter]]), ''Sângiordz'' (St. [[George]]) and ''Sânmedru'' (St. [[Demetrius]]). The non-religious onomastic proof of pre-Christian habits, like ''Sânziana'' and ''Cosânzeana'' (from ''Sancta Diana'' and ''Qua Sancta Diana'') is only of anecdotal value in this context. Yet, the highly spiritualized places in the mountains, the processions, the calendars, and even the physical locations of the early churches were clearly the same as those of the Dacians. Even the Apostle Andrew is known locally as the Apostle "of the wolves"—with very old and large connotations, whereby the wolf's head was an ethnicon and a symbol of military and spiritual "fire" for Dacians.

===Christianity in Scythia Minor===
While Dacia was only for a short time part of the Roman Empire, Scythia Minor (modern Dobrogea) was part of it much longer and after the breakdown of the Roman Empire, it became part of the [[Byzantine Empire]].

[[Image:Four_Martyrs_tomb.jpg|thumb|left|Tomb of the Four Martyrs, Niculiţel, Romania]]
The first encounter of Christianity in Scythia Minor was when St. Andrew, brother of St. [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] and their disciples passed through it in the 1st century. Later on, Christianity became the predominant faith of the region, proven by the large number of remains of early Christian churches. The Roman administration was ruthless with the Christians, proven by the great number of [[martyr]]s.

Bishop [[Ephrem of Romania|Ephrem]], killed in on [[March 7]], 304 in Tomis, was the first Christian martyr of this region and was followed by countless others, especially during the repression ordered by emperors [[Diocletian]], [[Galerius]], [[Licinius]] and [[Julian the Apostate]].

An important, impressive number of [[diocese]]s and [[martyrs]] are first attested during the times of Ante-Nicene Fathers. The first known Daco-Roman Christian [[priest]] Montanus and his wife Maxima were drowned, as martyrs, because of their faith, on [[March 26]] 304.

The 1971 archeological digs under the paleo-Christian [[basilica]] in Niculiţel (near ancient Noviodunum in Scythia Minor) unearthed an even older martyrion. Besides Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos who suffered martyrdom under [[Diocletian]] (304-305), from under the crypt were unnearthed the [[relics]] of two previous martyrs who died during the repressions of Emperor [[Decius]] (249-251].

[[Image:Four Martyrs inscription.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Inscription in the Tomb of the Four Martyrs, listing the names Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos]]

The names of these martyrs had been placed since their death in church records, and the find of the tomb with the names written inside was astonishing. The fact that the relics of the famous St. [[Sava the Goth]] (martyred by drowning in the river Buzău, under Athanaric on [[April 12]], 372) were reverently received by St. [[Basil the Great]] conclusively demonstrate that (unlike bishop [[Wulfila]]), St. Sava was a follower of the Nicene faith, not a [[heresiarch]] like [[Arius]].

Once the Dacian-born Emperor [[Galerius]] proclaimed freedom for Christians all over the Roman Empire in 311, the city of Tomis alone (modern Constanţa) became a [[metropolis]] with as many as 14 [[diocese|bishoprics]].

===Middle Ages===
Following the complex relationship of the Byzantine Patriarchates and Bulgarian kingdoms, Romanians adopted [[Church Slavonic]] in the [[liturgy]] from the early 9th century. However, most of the religious texts were learned by heart by [[priest]]s who either did not understand Slavic languages or always wanted to be understood by their own community, or both. Some priests used to mumble (''a boscorodi'') the sermon, using certain Slavic prefixes, so at least it would sound like Slavonic.

[[Image:Turnu_Severin_church.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Foundation walls of the oldest-known Romanian Orthodox church in Turnu Severin]]
Since Dacia south of the Danube was also known as Vlahia Mare ("Greater Wallachia"), the region north of the Danube was known as Ungro-Vlahia—the "Hungarian Wallachia." This important geographical and ethnogenetic fact of Romania is still reflected into the name of the first Metropolis of Ungro-Vlachia, which was founded in 1359 in Curtea de Argeş. Another Romanian Metropolis was founded in 1401 in Suceava, Moldavia.

===Translation of the Bible===
Ecclesiastical life flourished in all organized forms on both sides of the Lower Danube. However, metropolia for the Romanians north of the Danube were only created in the late 13th century and early 14th century, according to the political developments there. Many religious texts were to be periodically transcribed until the 16th century in [[Church Slavonic]] only.

[[Image:Densus_church.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The stone church of Densuş, Transylvania, built on the site of a pre-Christian temple]]
However, important Romanian language translations certainly circulated, including the ''Codicele Voroneţean'' (the Codex of Voroneţ). The Bucharest Bible (''Biblia de la Bucureşti'') was the first complete Romanian translation of the [[Holy Scripture|Bible]] in the late 17th century. It was published in 1688 during the reign of Şerban Cantacuzino in Wallachia and is considered a mature and highly developed work.

Its cultural import is not unlike that of the [[Authorized Version|King James Version]] for the English language. This could not have been achieved without much previous (and perhaps as yet unknown) anonymous translation work. For this, a wealth of Byzantine manuscripts, brought north of the Danube in the "Byzance after Byzance" movement described by famous historian Nicolae Iorga is an outstanding proof.

After this time, the importance of Church Slavonic and Greek in the Church of Romania began to fade. 1736 was the year when the last Slavonic liturgy was published in Wallachia, but only in 1863 did Romanian become officially the only language of the Romanian church.

Although most of the time under foreign suzerainty (under the[Ottoman Turks in Moldavia and Wallachia and under Hungarian rule in Transylvania), Romanians characteristically kept their Orthodox faith as part of their national identity.

===The Uniate Church===
In 1698 in Transylvania, a small number of Romania's Orthodox Christians granted ecclesiastical authority to the Pope of [[Roman Catholic Church|Rome]], but retained the Orthodox rite. Thus, they went into [[schism]] from the [[Orthodox Church]].

This action is seen by some historians as a political move designed to obtain the equality of rights with Roman Catholic citizens. Indeed, by becoming members of the "Greek-rite Roman Catholic" church, a minority of Romanians in Transylvania eventually managed to be recognized as a nation by the Hapsburg rulers, achieving status equal to the three Transylvanian peoples collectively known as the ''Unio Trium Nationum''. Along with this came the arrival of the Jesuits who attempted to align Transylvania more closely with Western Europe.

This ecclesiastical group is known today as the Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church.

===Recent history===
The Romanian Orthodox Church has been fully [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] since 1885. Many Romanians believe the Orthodox faith to be an essential part of their national and ethnic identity, although a minority of Romanians are members of other faiths.

====The Church in Moldova====
Romanians in the Republic of Moldova belonging to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, having resisted Russification for 192 years (after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire in 1812), currently number about 2 million. The Metropolis of Bessarabia is part of the Romanian patriarchate.

In 2001 it won a landmark legal victory against the government of the Republic of Moldova at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. Traditionally, Orthodox Christians in Moldova had been part of the Church of Romania, but due to Stalin's annexation of the country in 1944, the church there was brought under the authority of the [[Church of Russia]]. As such, Moldova's government had been refusing to recognize the Romanian church's authority in Moldova, attempting to force the Bessarabian metropolis to submit to the Moscow Patriarchate. With the legal ruling in 2001, however, the Metropolis of Bessarabia was declared to be a part of the Church of Romania.

===Unique features===
The Romanian Orthodox Church is the only one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] or [[autonomy|autonomous]] Orthodox churches using a Romance language as its liturgical language.

Byzantine religious records also mention a unique form of [[bishop|bishopric]] in the region—namely the ''[[chorepiscopos|chorepiscopate]]'' or ''countryside episcopacy''—as contrasted with the better-known religious centers in large cities. This office can be compared to the abbot-bishops of Ireland, who united the functions of countryside [[abbot]] with that of [[diocese|diocesan]] [[bishop]] in another country that did not emphasize an urban episcopate, at least for a time.

The very word ''church'' in Romanian, ''biserică'', is unique in Europe. It comes from Latin ''basilica'' (from ''βασιλικα'', meaning "communications received from the king" and "the place where the Emperor administered justice"), rather than ''ecclesia'' (from ''εκκλησία'', meaning "those called out").

==Canonical status==
The Church of Romania is organized as a [[patriarchate]]. The highest hierarchical and canonical authority of the church is the [[Holy Synod]].
[[Image:Romanian_Patriarchate_palace.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The Palace of the Romanian Patriarchate]]

==Organization==
There are five [[metropolis|metropolia]] and ten [[archdiocese]]s in Romania, and more than twelve thousand [[priest]]s and [[deacon]]s. Almost 400 [[monasticism|monasteries]] exist inside the country for some 3500 monks and 5000 nuns. Three diasporan netropolia and two diasporan dioceses function outside Romania proper. As of 2004, there are, inside Romania, fifteen theological universities where more than ten thousand students (some of them from Bessarabia, Bukovina and Serbia) currently study for a doctoral degree. More than 14,500 churches (traditionally named ''lăcaşe de cult'') exist in Romania for the Orthodox faithful. As of 2002, almost 1,000 of these were either in the process of being built or rebuilt.

==Famous theologians==
[[Image:Dumitru_Staniloae.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Dumitru Staniloae|Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae]]]]
Father [[Dumitru Staniloae|Dumitru Stăniloae]] (1903-1993) was one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the 20th century. His ''magnum opus'', aside from his ''Duhovnicesc'' ("deepest spiritual"), is the comprehensive collection, compiled over 45 years, known as the ''Romanian Philokalia''.

==List of Patriarchs==
* [[Miron (Cristea) of Romania|Miron]] (1925-1939)
* [[Nicodim (Munteanu) of Romania|Nicodim]] (1939-1948)
* [[Iustinian (Marina) of Romania|Iustinian]] (1948-1977)
* [[Iustin (Moisescu) of Romania|Iustin]] (1977-1986)
* [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist]] (1986-)

==Structure of the Patriarchate==
Metropolitan See of Muntenia and Dobrogea
* Archdiocese of Bucharest
* Archdiocese of Tomis
* Archdiocese of Targoviste
* Diocese of Buzau
* Diocese of Arges and Muscel
* Diocese of Dunarea de Jos
* Diocese of Slobozia and Calarasi
* Diocese of Alexandria and Teleorman

Metropolitan See of Moldova and Bucovina
* Archdiocese of Iasi
* Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti
* Diocese of Roman
* Diocese of Husi

Metropolitan See of Transylvania
* Archdiocese of Sibiu
* Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj
* Archdiocese of Alba Iulia
* Diocese of Oradea, Bihor and Salaj
* Diocese of Maramures and Satmar
* Diocese of Covasna and Harghita

Metropolitan See of Oltenia
* Archdiocese of Craiova
* Diocese of Ramnic

Metropolitan See of Banat
* Archdiocese of Timisoara
* Diocese of Arad, Ienopole and Halmagiu
* Diocese of Cansebes

Autonomous Metropolitan See of Bessarabia

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See for Germany and Central Europe

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See wor Western and Southern Europe

Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Hungary

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Yugoslavia

==Romanian Saints==
* [[Daniel the Hermit]]
* [[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
* [[Gherman of Dobrogea]]
* [[John Cassian]]
* [[John the New of Suceava]]
* [[Sansala]]
* [[Sava the Goth]]
* [[Stephen the Great]]

==External links==
*[http://www.patriarhia.ro/ The Romanian Patriarchate] (official site)
*[http://roboam.com/identitate/boscorodirea.htm Boscorodirea] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/index.html Biserica Ortodoxa Romana] (in Romanian and English)
*[http://www.biserica.org/Publicatii/2003/NoX/13_index.html Portal Ortodox Romanesc] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.geocities.com/pr_razvan_ionescu/index_i.htm On Science and Faith: Romanian Orthodox Reflections] (in Romanian, French and English)
*[http://www.ortho-logia.com/ OrthoLogia]: Jurnal de apologetica Ortodoxa

===Churches and Monasteries===
*[http://www.golia.ro/ The Golia Monastery]
*[[Humor Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)|Humor Monastery]]
*[[Moldovita Monastery(Bucovina, Romania)|Moldoviţa Monastery]]
*[[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)|Putna Monastery]]
*[[Sucevita Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)|Suceviţa Monastery]]
*[[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)|Voroneţ Monastery]]

===History===
*[http://www.geocities.com/amadgearu/crestinism.html The Role played by the Christianity in the Genesis of the Romanian People]
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/01/1a_the_romanian_orthodox_church.html Romanian Orthodox Church - History]

===Romanian Orthodoxy outside Romania===
*[http://www.mitropolia-paris.ro/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română a Europei Occidentale şi Meridionale]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Western and Southern Europe (in French)
*[http://www.mitropolia-ro.de/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română pentru Germania şi Europa Centrală]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Germany and Central Europe
*[http://www.egliseroumaine.com/noi-dvs/primire/primire.htm Romanian Church of Paris] in Romanian and French
*[http://www.radur.homechoice.co.uk/roc.html Romanian Orthodox Church in London] in Romanian and English
*[http://www.romarch.org/ Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada] (Church of Romania)
*[http://www.roea.org/ Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America] ([[OCA]])
*[http://www.starlightsite.co.uk/keston/kns/2002/020410MO-01.htm MOLDOVA: Government Fails in Bessarabian Church Appeal]
*[http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/0/75f3ea9f6eb9d125c1256b22002f59fb?OpenDocument Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Others v. Moldova]

[[Category:Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Jurisdictions]]

User:James

2005-03-23T13:24:41Z

James: /* Articles */

My, rather unwieldy, name is James Harry Karl Meyer-Bejdl. I was born in Chatham, England in 1975 into an extremely mixed but predominantly German/Czech family, the family being scattered across Europe from Britain to Slovakia due to the wars and politics of the 20th century.

I am a convert to Orthodoxy having been brought up Lutheran (though I mostly attended Anglican services due to a lack of Lutheran churches in Britain). I first came into contact with the Orthodox Church in Romania whilst working for a charity at the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Bucovina. My investigation of and eventual conversion to Orthodoxy was triggered by the example of a wonderful monk at the monastery of St. [[John the New of Suceava]]. I, unfortunately, never got his name but I owe him a great debt.

I eventually married in the 15th century church of Sf. Nicolae in Balinesti, the village near Siret from which my wife comes, but we've now settled down in Britain. When I was Chrismated in the Orthodox Church I took St. [[James the Persian]] as my patron, partly because his life inspired me a great deal and partly because he is less commonly venerated than other Sts. James.

I hope I shall be able to contribute articles on the [[Church of Romania]] here, and particularly the Romanian saints who are relatively unknown in the west.

== Articles ==
The following are articles which I have either added to OrthodoxWiki or to which I have contributed. I hope to expand the list significantly over time, particularly those articles on Romanian saints, monasteries and churches.

*[[Church of Romania]]
*[[Daniel the Hermit]]
*[[Diocletian]]
*[[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
*[[John Cassian]]
*[[John the New of Suceava]]
*[[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
*[[Sansala]]
*[[Sava the Goth]]
*[[Stephen the Great]]
*[[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]

User:James

2005-03-23T13:22:22Z

James:

My, rather unwieldy, name is James Harry Karl Meyer-Bejdl. I was born in Chatham, England in 1975 into an extremely mixed but predominantly German/Czech family, the family being scattered across Europe from Britain to Slovakia due to the wars and politics of the 20th century.

I am a convert to Orthodoxy having been brought up Lutheran (though I mostly attended Anglican services due to a lack of Lutheran churches in Britain). I first came into contact with the Orthodox Church in Romania whilst working for a charity at the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Bucovina. My investigation of and eventual conversion to Orthodoxy was triggered by the example of a wonderful monk at the monastery of St. [[John the New of Suceava]]. I, unfortunately, never got his name but I owe him a great debt.

I eventually married in the 15th century church of Sf. Nicolae in Balinesti, the village near Siret from which my wife comes, but we've now settled down in Britain. When I was Chrismated in the Orthodox Church I took St. [[James the Persian]] as my patron, partly because his life inspired me a great deal and partly because he is less commonly venerated than other Sts. James.

I hope I shall be able to contribute articles on the [[Church of Romania]] here, and particularly the Romanian saints who are relatively unknown in the west.

== Articles ==
The following are articles which I have either added to OrthodoxWiki or to which I have contributed. I hope to expand the list significantly over time, particularly those articles on Romanian saints, monasteries and churches.

[[Church of Romania]]
[[Daniel the Hermit]]
[[Diocletian]]
[[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
[[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]
[[Sansala]]
[[Sava the Goth]]
[[Stephen the Great]]
[[Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)]]

Sansala

2005-03-23T11:30:26Z

James:

The holy, glorious and right-victorious Confessor '''Sansala''' was a priest from the Buzau valley in Romania and the spiritual father of the Great Martyr St. [[Sava the Goth]]. He and St. Sava carried out missionary work in the area around Buzau, converting many pagan Dacians and Goths to Christianity.

In 372, he and St. Sava were captured by the soldiers of King Athanaric of the Goths who had begun a great persecution of Christians. Both of the saints were ordered to sacrifice to idols and tortured upon their refusal to do so. St. Sansala courageously endured these tortures and was eventually released, but his chanter St. Sava was condemned to death and drowned in the River Buzau.

St. Sansala took the relics of the martyr and hid them until they could be taken out of the Gothic kingdom to the safety of the Roman Empire. The saint bravely remained in Dacia and continued his missionary activities which continued to meet with great success. He eventually died towards the end of the 4th century.

[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Sansala

2005-03-23T11:28:46Z

James:

The holy, glorious and right-victorious Confessor '''Sansala''' was a priest from the Buzau valley in Romania and the spiritual father of the Great Martyr St. [[Sava the Goth]]. He and St. Sava carried out missionary work in the area around Buzau, converting many pagan Dacians and Goths to Christianity.

In 372, he and St. Sava were captured by the soldiers of King Athanaric of the Goths who had begun a great persecution of Christians. Both of the saints were ordered to sacrifice to idols and tortured upon their refusal to do so. St. Sansala courageously endured these tortures and was eventually released, but his chanter St. Sava was condemned to death and drowned in the River Buzau.

St. Sansala took the relics of the martyr and hid them until they could be taken out of the Gothic kingdom to the safety of the Roman Empire. St. Sansala bravely remained in Dacia and continued his missionary activities which continued to meet with great success. He eventually died towards the end of the 4th century.

[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Oswald of Northumbria

2005-03-23T10:12:40Z

James: Added to new martyrs category

The holy, glorious, right-victorious martyr and right-believing King '''Oswald of Northumbria''' (c. 604-[[August 5]], 641/642) was the king of Northumbria (Northern England) from 633 or 634 until his death. The son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia, King of Northumbria, he is best remembered as a Christian [[martyr]]. His [[feast day]] is [[August 5]].

==Life==
After his father was defeated and killed by Raedwald of East Anglia, Oswald fled to Dalriada, where he was converted to Christianity by the monks of [[Iona]]. He fought under Connadd Cerr in the Battle of Fid Eoin in Ireland.

After the king of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan (in alliance with Penda of Mercia), killed King St. [[Edwin of Northumbria]] in battle at Hatfield Chase in 632 (or 633), Northumbria was split between its sub-kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. St. Oswald's half-brother Eanfrith became king of Bernicia, but he was killed by Cadwallon in 633 (or 634) after attempting to negotiate peace. Oswald then returned from exile with an army and marched against Cadwallon; his ranks were bolstered by Scots sent by the king of Dalriada, Domnal Brecc. The day before the two sides met in battle at Heavenfield, Oswald made his soldiers construct a wooden [[cross]]. He knelt down, holding the cross in position until enough earth had been thrown in the hole to make it stand firm. He then [[prayer|prayed]] and asked his army to join in. In the battle that followed, the Welsh were routed despite their superior numbers and pursued for miles by the Northumbrians; Cadwallon himself was killed.

Following this victory, Oswald reunited Northumbria. He is considered to have been Bretwalda ("Lord of Britain") for the eight years of his rule (both [[Bede]] and the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' say that Oswald's reign was actually considered to be nine years, the ninth year being accounted for by assigning to Oswald the year preceding his rule, "on account of the heathenism practised by those who had ruled that one year between him and Edwin"), although his authority over the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms seems to have been limited. He did, however, form an alliance with Wessex under Cynegils: Cynegils converted to Christianity and accepted [[baptism]], and Oswald married Cyneburh, the daughter of Cynegils. With her he had a son, Æthelwald.

Although Edwin had previously converted to Christianity in 627, it was Oswald who did the most to spread the religion in Northumbria. It was he who gave the island of [[Lindisfarne]] to the bishop St. [[Aidan of Lindisfarne|Aidan]], who established a [[monastery]] there.

Oswald won some successes against the British to the north, but the primary concern of his reign was Northumbria's conflict with the rising power of Mercia under Penda. He was killed by the Mercians at the Battle of Maserfield in 641 or 642, and his body was dismembered by the [[paganism|pagan]] Penda. ([[Bede]] says that Oswald died in the thirty-eighth year of his age.) Oswald's head and limbs were placed on stakes, but according to legend, one of his arms was taken by his pet raven and dropped on a tree. The people quickly came to regard Oswald as a [[martyr]] and [[saint]]: a holy well of healing was said to have sprung up at the spot where the arm had landed, and the site soon became known as [[Oswestry]], or "Oswald's Tree." His holy [[relics]] now reside with those of Ss. Aidan and [[Cuthbert of Lindisfarne|Cuthbert]] in the cathedral at Durham, England.

[[Category:Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Saints]]
[[Category:Emperors and Kings]]
[[Category:Martyrs]]
[[Category:Missionaries]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Talk:Fasting

2005-03-23T09:26:59Z

James: /* Is there a heirarchy of foods? */

''Great Lent is the period of six weeks following the Lenten Triodion...''

I'm wondering about this. Doesn't the Triodion also cover all of Lent? As I look at my copy of ''The Lenten Triodion'' by Mo. Maria and Bp. Kallistos, it certainly covers far more than just those three weeks prior to Forgiveness Sunday. --[[User:ASDamick|Rdr. Andrew]] 17:23, 22 Feb 2005 (CST)

You are right. The Triodion is the service book that governs the entire period from the pre-Lenten weeks of preparation, through Greath Lent and Holy Week.[[User:Dcndavid|DcnDavid]] 20:37, 22 Feb 2005 (CST)

== Is there a heirarchy of foods? ==

I've only been Orthodox for about 3 years and this is the first Lent that I've really felt I had the strength and discipline to follow the fast strictly. I'm actually finding it a lot easier than I expected, but I have a question about the calendar, which nobody has ever answered for me: is there a heirarchy of foods or not and if so what is it? What I mean is, if my calendar says dairy products are fine, is fish also? - i.e is there a heirarchy like so:

Meat < Dairy < Fish < Wine and oil

Or is each type of food considered separately? I tend to treat fish days as days without dairy and dairy days as days without fish, but I'm not sure if this is correct or not. I realise that the worth of the fast is in its spirit and not following the letter of the law, so to speak, but it would be useful to know what the letter actually is. Whatever the answer, I think it would be useful to see it added to this page because I've found that nothing on the internet appears to cover this. [[User:James|James]]

:[[User:James|James]], there is a hierarchy of foods and your progression seems correct. Wine and oil are at the same level. On a fish day, one can also consume wine and oil, but not dairy. The only dairy days are the week following meatfare, and fish, wine, and oil are also allowed during that week.[[User:Dcndavid|DcnDavid]] 14:22, 22 Mar 2005 (CST)

:Thank you. That's the first time anyone's confirmed what I suspected. I've never seen any resource that mentions that such a heirarchy exists, and for some reason (probably because until now I never really felt up to keeping the fasts really strictly) I've never got around to asking a priest.

Talk:Evangelicus of Tomis

2005-03-23T09:23:18Z

James: /* Introduction to saints' lives */

Should Diocletian be a link or not? I know there's no article as yet, but that's not what I mean. Clearly Diocletian was pagan but, like Nero, I'd argue that he is important to Orthodox history by reason of the fact that he initiated a vicious persecution of Christians. Is that sufficient reason to have an article on him? [[User:James|James]] 05:38, 22 Mar 2005 (CST)

: Yeah, why not? --[[User:ASDamick|Rdr. Andrew]] 06:02, 22 Mar 2005 (CST)

== Introduction to saints' lives ==

I've noticed that you've added phrases to the introduction of some of my articles on Romanian saints such as 'The holy, glorious right-victorious Hieromartyr' for St. Evangelicus and wondered if you could give me a list of how I should be starting them for martyrs, confessors, bishops, monastics etc. That way I could do it right myself rather than having to rely on you coming and fixing them afterwards. Thanks. [[User:James|James]] 08:53, 22 Mar 2005 (CST)

:I always go to the [[Saint commemorations]] page, which has a list and a rough description of when to use each. --[[User:Magda|magda]] 09:43, 22 Mar 2005 (CST)

:Thanks Magda, I didn't realise that page existed before - now I feel a little silly for asking. I have now used the advice, hopefully correctly, for my article on St. Sava. [[User:James|James]] 03:23, 23 Mar 2005 (CST)

Sava the Goth

2005-03-23T08:27:43Z

James:

The holy, glorious and right-victorious Great Martyr '''Sava the Goth''', also known as '''Sava the Romanian''', is the earliest known native born martyr on Romanian soil. He was born in 334 to Christian parents in a village in the Buzău valley and his ''Act of Martyrdom'' states that he was a Goth by race.

He was brought up as a good Christian and as a youth became chanter at the church of his spiritual father the Priest St. [[Sansala]]. It is thought that he became a monk at the monastic community in the Buzău Mountains formed by refugees from Tomis who had fled the barbarian invasions there. He and St. Sava worked as monastic missionaries in the Buzău region bringing many pagan Dacians and Goths to belief in Christ.

Between 370 and 372, the Gothic King Athanaric, who had settled in Dacia and was at war with Emperor Valens, began a great persecution of Christians in his territory. The ''Act of Martyrdom'' of St. Sava states that in 372, on the third day of [[Pascha]], the soldiers of Athanaric under the direction of an official called Atarid captured both Sts. Sava and Sansala. They bound and tortured them in an attempt to make them sacrifice to idols and to eat of those sacrifices. St. Sava was condemned to death by drowning after courageously resisting these tortures and was thrown into the Buzau river with a heavy piece of wood tied around his neck. St. Sansala also resisted the Goths' tortures but was released.

Athanaric's soldiers had wanted to release the Great Martyr, but he urged them that they should follow out their orders, saying the following. 'Fulfill the command you were given. Beyond the river I see what you cannot; I see those who wait to take my soul and bring it to the place of God's glory.' So, he was martyred on [[April 12]] 372, on the fifth day after Pascha, at the age of 38. His relics were taken by St. Sansala and hidden by the Christians until they could be sent for safety to the Roman Empire. Here they were received by Bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica.

St. [[Basil the Great]] requested of the ruler of Scythia Minor, Junius Soranus, that he should send him the relics of saints and so the Dacian priests sent the relics of St. Sava to him in Caesaria, Cappadocia, in 373 or 374 accompanied by a letter, the ''Epistle of the Church of God in Gothia to the Church of God located in Cappadocia and to all the Local Churches of the Holy Universal Church''. This letter is the oldest known writing to be composed on Romanian soil and was written in Greek, possibly by St. [[Vetranion of Tomis]].

In response St. Basil replied with two letters to Bishop Ascholius where he extolled the virtues of St. Sava calling him an 'athlete of Christ' and 'Martyr for the truth'. St. Sava's feast day is on the date of his martyrdom, [[April 12]]

[[Category:Martyrs]]
[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Sava the Goth

2005-03-23T08:20:53Z

James:

Sava the Goth, also known as Sava the Romanian, is the earliest known native born martyr on Romanian soil. He was born in 334 to Christian parents in a village in the Buzau valley and his Act of Martyrdom states that he was a Goth by race.

He was brought up as a good Christian and as a youth became chanter at the church of his spiritual father the Priest St. [[Sansala]]. It is thought that he became a monk at the monastic community in the Buzau Mountains formed by refugees from Tomis who had fled the barbarian invasions there. He and St. Sava worked as monastic missionaries in the Buzau region bringing many pagan Dacians and Goths to belief in Christ.

Between 370 and 372, the Gothic King Athanaric, who had settled in Dacia and was at war with Emperor Valens, began a great persecution of Christians in his territory. The Act of Martyrdom of St. Sava states that in 372, on the third day of [[Pascha]], the soldiers of Athanaric under the direction of an official called Atarid captured both Sts. Sava and Sansala. They bound and tortured them in an attempt to make them sacrifice to idols and to eat of those sacrifices. St. Sava was condemned to death by drowning after courageously resisting these tortures and was thrown into the Buzau river with a heavy piece of wood tied around his neck. St. Sansala also resisted the Goths' tortures but was released.

Athanaric's soldiers had wanted to release the Great Martyr, but he urged them that they should follow out their orders, saying the following. 'Fulfill the command you were given. Beyond the river I see what you cannot; I see those who wait to take my soul and bring it to the place of God's glory.' So, he was martyred on [[April 12]] 372, on the fifth day after Pascha, at the age of 38. His relics were taken by St. Sansala and hidden by the Christians until they could be sent for safety to the Roman Empire. Here they were received by Bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica.

St. [[Basil the Great]] requested of the ruler of Scythia Minor, Junius Soranus, that he should send him the relics of saints and so the Dacian priest sent the relics of St. Sava to him in 373 or 374 accompanied by a letter, the Epistle of the Church of God in Gothia to the Church of God located in Cappadocia and to all the Local Churches of the Holy Universal Church. This letter is the oldest known writing to be composed on Romanian soil and was written in Greek, possibly by St. [[Vetranion of Tomis]].

In response St. Basil replied with two letters to Bishop Ascholius where he extolled the virtues of St. Sava calling him an 'athlete of Christ' and 'Martyr for the truth'. St. Sava' feast day is on the date of his martyrdom, [[April 12]]

[[Category:Martyrs]]
[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Church of Romania

2005-03-23T07:54:31Z

James: /* Romanian Saints */

The '''Church of Romania''' is one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] Orthodox churches. The majority of Romanians in Romania by a very wide margin (about 20 million, or 86.7% of the population, according to the 2002 census data) belong to it. In terms of population, the Church of Romania is second in size only to the [[Church of Russia]].

[[Image:Romanian_hieromonk.jpg|350px|thumb|A Romanian [[hieromonk]]]]
In the Romanian language it is most often known as '''Ortodoxie''', but is also sometimes known as '''Dreapta credinţă''' ("right/correct belief"—compare to Greek ''ορθοδοξια'', "straight/correct belief"). Orthodox believers are also known as '''ortodocşi''', '''dreptcredincioşi''' or '''dreptmăritori creştini'''.

The current primate is His Beatitude [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist (Arapaşu)]], Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, and Patriarch of All Romania, ''Locum Tenens'' of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

==History==
Some Romanian Orthodox regard their church to be the first national, first attested, and first [[apostles|apostolic]] church in Europe and view the [[Apostle Andrew]] as the church's founder.

Most historians, however, hold that Christianity was brought to Romania by the occupying Romans. The Roman province had traces of all imperial religions, including Mithraism, but Christianity, a ''religio illicita'', existed among some of the Romans.

The Roman Empire soon found it was too costly to maintain a permanent garrison north of the lower Danube. As a whole, from 106 AD a permanent military and administrative Roman presence was registered only until 276 AD. (In comparison, Britain was militarily occupied by Romans for more than six centuries—and English is certainly not a Romance language, while the Church of England had no Archbishop before the times of Pope St. [[Gregory the Dialogist|Gregory the Great]].) Clearly, Dacians must have been favored linguistically and religiously by some unique ethnological features, so that after only 169 years of an anemic military occupation they emerged as a major Romance people, strongly represented religiously at the first [[Ecumenical Councils]], as the Ante-Nicene Fathers duly recorded.

When the Romanians formed as a people, it is quite clear that they already had the Christian faith, as proved by tradition, as well as by some interesting archeological and linguistic evidence. Basic terms of Christianity are of Latin origin: such as ''church'' (''biserică'' from ''basilica''), ''God'' (''Dumnezeu'' from ''Domine Deus''), ''Pascha'' (''Paşti'' from ''Paschae''), ''Pagan'' (''Păgân'' from ''Paganus''), ''Angel'' (''Înger'' from ''Angelus''). Some of them (especially ''Biserica'') are unique to Orthodoxy as it is found in Romania.

Very few traces can be found in the Romanian names that are left from the Roman Christianity after the Slavic influence began. All the names of the saints were preserved in Latin form: ''Sântămăria'' (the [[Theotokos]]), ''Sâmpietru'' ([[Apostle Peter]]), ''Sângiordz'' (St. [[George]]) and ''Sânmedru'' (St. [[Demetrius]]). The non-religious onomastic proof of pre-Christian habits, like ''Sânziana'' and ''Cosânzeana'' (from ''Sancta Diana'' and ''Qua Sancta Diana'') is only of anecdotal value in this context. Yet, the highly spiritualized places in the mountains, the processions, the calendars, and even the physical locations of the early churches were clearly the same as those of the Dacians. Even the Apostle Andrew is known locally as the Apostle "of the wolves"—with very old and large connotations, whereby the wolf's head was an ethnicon and a symbol of military and spiritual "fire" for Dacians.

===Christianity in Scythia Minor===
While Dacia was only for a short time part of the Roman Empire, Scythia Minor (modern Dobrogea) was part of it much longer and after the breakdown of the Roman Empire, it became part of the [[Byzantine Empire]].

[[Image:Four_Martyrs_tomb.jpg|thumb|left|Tomb of the Four Martyrs, Niculiţel, Romania]]
The first encounter of Christianity in Scythia Minor was when St. Andrew, brother of St. [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] and their disciples passed through it in the 1st century. Later on, Christianity became the predominant faith of the region, proven by the large number of remains of early Christian churches. The Roman administration was ruthless with the Christians, proven by the great number of [[martyr]]s.

Bishop [[Ephrem of Romania|Ephrem]], killed in on [[March 7]], 304 in Tomis, was the first Christian martyr of this region and was followed by countless others, especially during the repression ordered by emperors [[Diocletian]], [[Galerius]], [[Licinius]] and [[Julian the Apostate]].

An important, impressive number of [[diocese]]s and [[martyrs]] are first attested during the times of Ante-Nicene Fathers. The first known Daco-Roman Christian [[priest]] Montanus and his wife Maxima were drowned, as martyrs, because of their faith, on [[March 26]] 304.

The 1971 archeological digs under the paleo-Christian [[basilica]] in Niculiţel (near ancient Noviodunum in Scythia Minor) unearthed an even older martyrion. Besides Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos who suffered martyrdom under [[Diocletian]] (304-305), from under the crypt were unnearthed the [[relics]] of two previous martyrs who died during the repressions of Emperor [[Decius]] (249-251].

[[Image:Four Martyrs inscription.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Inscription in the Tomb of the Four Martyrs, listing the names Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos]]

The names of these martyrs had been placed since their death in church records, and the find of the tomb with the names written inside was astonishing. The fact that the relics of the famous St. [[Sava the Goth]] (martyred by drowning in the river Buzău, under Athanaric on [[April 12]], 372) were reverently received by St. [[Basil the Great]] conclusively demonstrate that (unlike bishop [[Wulfila]]), St. Sava was a follower of the Nicene faith, not a [[heresiarch]] like [[Arius]].

Once the Dacian-born Emperor [[Galerius]] proclaimed freedom for Christians all over the Roman Empire in 311, the city of Tomis alone (modern Constanţa) became a [[metropolis]] with as many as 14 [[diocese|bishoprics]].

===Middle Ages===
Following the complex relationship of the Byzantine Patriarchates and Bulgarian kingdoms, Romanians adopted [[Church Slavonic]] in the [[liturgy]] from the early 9th century. However, most of the religious texts were learned by heart by [[priest]]s who either did not understand Slavic languages or always wanted to be understood by their own community, or both. Some priests used to mumble (''a boscorodi'') the sermon, using certain Slavic prefixes, so at least it would sound like Slavonic.

[[Image:Turnu_Severin_church.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Foundation walls of the oldest-known Romanian Orthodox church in Turnu Severin]]
Since Dacia south of the Danube was also known as Vlahia Mare ("Greater Wallachia"), the region north of the Danube was known as Ungro-Vlahia—the "Hungarian Wallachia." This important geographical and ethnogenetic fact of Romania is still reflected into the name of the first Metropolis of Ungro-Vlachia, which was founded in 1359 in Curtea de Argeş. Another Romanian Metropolis was founded in 1401 in Suceava, Moldavia.

===Translation of the Bible===
Ecclesiastical life flourished in all organized forms on both sides of the Lower Danube. However, metropolia for the Romanians north of the Danube were only created in the late 13th century and early 14th century, according to the political developments there. Many religious texts were to be periodically transcribed until the 16th century in [[Church Slavonic]] only.

[[Image:Densus_church.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The stone church of Densuş, Transylvania, built on the site of a pre-Christian temple]]
However, important Romanian language translations certainly circulated, including the ''Codicele Voroneţean'' (the Codex of Voroneţ). The Bucharest Bible (''Biblia de la Bucureşti'') was the first complete Romanian translation of the [[Holy Scripture|Bible]] in the late 17th century. It was published in 1688 during the reign of Şerban Cantacuzino in Wallachia and is considered a mature and highly developed work.

Its cultural import is not unlike that of the [[Authorized Version|King James Version]] for the English language. This could not have been achieved without much previous (and perhaps as yet unknown) anonymous translation work. For this, a wealth of Byzantine manuscripts, brought north of the Danube in the "Byzance after Byzance" movement described by famous historian Nicolae Iorga is an outstanding proof.

After this time, the importance of Church Slavonic and Greek in the Church of Romania began to fade. 1736 was the year when the last Slavonic liturgy was published in Wallachia, but only in 1863 did Romanian become officially the only language of the Romanian church.

Although most of the time under foreign suzerainty (under the[Ottoman Turks in Moldavia and Wallachia and under Hungarian rule in Transylvania), Romanians characteristically kept their Orthodox faith as part of their national identity.

===The Uniate Church===
In 1698 in Transylvania, a small number of Romania's Orthodox Christians granted ecclesiastical authority to the Pope of [[Roman Catholic Church|Rome]], but retained the Orthodox rite. Thus, they went into [[schism]] from the [[Orthodox Church]].

This action is seen by some historians as a political move designed to obtain the equality of rights with Roman Catholic citizens. Indeed, by becoming members of the "Greek-rite Roman Catholic" church, a minority of Romanians in Transylvania eventually managed to be recognized as a nation by the Hapsburg rulers, achieving status equal to the three Transylvanian peoples collectively known as the ''Unio Trium Nationum''. Along with this came the arrival of the Jesuits who attempted to align Transylvania more closely with Western Europe.

This ecclesiastical group is known today as the Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church.

===Recent history===
The Romanian Orthodox Church has been fully [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] since 1885. Many Romanians believe the Orthodox faith to be an essential part of their national and ethnic identity, although a minority of Romanians are members of other faiths.

====The Church in Moldova====
Romanians in the Republic of Moldova belonging to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, having resisted Russification for 192 years (after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire in 1812), currently number about 2 million. The Metropolis of Bessarabia is part of the Romanian patriarchate.

In 2001 it won a landmark legal victory against the government of the Republic of Moldova at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. Traditionally, Orthodox Christians in Moldova had been part of the Church of Romania, but due to Stalin's annexation of the country in 1944, the church there was brought under the authority of the [[Church of Russia]]. As such, Moldova's government had been refusing to recognize the Romanian church's authority in Moldova, attempting to force the Bessarabian metropolis to submit to the Moscow Patriarchate. With the legal ruling in 2001, however, the Metropolis of Bessarabia was declared to be a part of the Church of Romania.

===Unique features===
The Romanian Orthodox Church is the only one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] or [[autonomy|autonomous]] Orthodox churches using a Romance language as its liturgical language.

Byzantine religious records also mention a unique form of [[bishop|bishopric]] in the region—namely the ''[[chorepiscopos|chorepiscopate]]'' or ''countryside episcopacy''—as contrasted with the better-known religious centers in large cities. This office can be compared to the abbot-bishops of Ireland, who united the functions of countryside [[abbot]] with that of [[diocese|diocesan]] [[bishop]] in another country that did not emphasize an urban episcopate, at least for a time.

The very word ''church'' in Romanian, ''biserică'', is unique in Europe. It comes from Latin ''basilica'' (from ''βασιλικα'', meaning "communications received from the king" and "the place where the Emperor administered justice"), rather than ''ecclesia'' (from ''εκκλησία'', meaning "those called out").

==Canonical status==
The Church of Romania is organized as a [[patriarchate]]. The highest hierarchical and canonical authority of the church is the [[Holy Synod]].
[[Image:Romanian_Patriarchate_palace.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The Palace of the Romanian Patriarchate]]

==Organization==
There are five [[metropolis|metropolia]] and ten [[archdiocese]]s in Romania, and more than twelve thousand [[priest]]s and [[deacon]]s. Almost 400 [[monasticism|monasteries]] exist inside the country for some 3500 monks and 5000 nuns. Three diasporan netropolia and two diasporan dioceses function outside Romania proper. As of 2004, there are, inside Romania, fifteen theological universities where more than ten thousand students (some of them from Bessarabia, Bukovina and Serbia) currently study for a doctoral degree. More than 14,500 churches (traditionally named ''lăcaşe de cult'') exist in Romania for the Orthodox faithful. As of 2002, almost 1,000 of these were either in the process of being built or rebuilt.

==Famous theologians==
[[Image:Dumitru_Staniloae.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Dumitru Staniloae|Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae]]]]
Father [[Dumitru Staniloae|Dumitru Stăniloae]] (1903-1993) was one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the 20th century. His ''magnum opus'', aside from his ''Duhovnicesc'' ("deepest spiritual"), is the comprehensive collection, compiled over 45 years, known as the ''Romanian Philokalia''.

==List of Patriarchs==
* [[Miron (Cristea) of Romania|Miron]] (1925-1939)
* [[Nicodim (Munteanu) of Romania|Nicodim]] (1939-1948)
* [[Iustinian (Marina) of Romania|Iustinian]] (1948-1977)
* [[Iustin (Moisescu) of Romania|Iustin]] (1977-1986)
* [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist]] (1986-)

==Structure of the Patriarchate==
Metropolitan See of Muntenia and Dobrogea
* Archdiocese of Bucharest
* Archdiocese of Tomis
* Archdiocese of Targoviste
* Diocese of Buzau
* Diocese of Arges and Muscel
* Diocese of Dunarea de Jos
* Diocese of Slobozia and Calarasi
* Diocese of Alexandria and Teleorman

Metropolitan See of Moldova and Bucovina
* Archdiocese of Iasi
* Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti
* Diocese of Roman
* Diocese of Husi

Metropolitan See of Transylvania
* Archdiocese of Sibiu
* Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj
* Archdiocese of Alba Iulia
* Diocese of Oradea, Bihor and Salaj
* Diocese of Maramures and Satmar
* Diocese of Covasna and Harghita

Metropolitan See of Oltenia
* Archdiocese of Craiova
* Diocese of Ramnic

Metropolitan See of Banat
* Archdiocese of Timisoara
* Diocese of Arad, Ienopole and Halmagiu
* Diocese of Cansebes

Autonomous Metropolitan See of Bessarabia

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See for Germany and Central Europe

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See wor Western and Southern Europe

Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Hungary

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Yugoslavia

==Romanian Saints==
* [[Daniel the Hermit]]
* [[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
* [[Gherman of Dobrogea]]
* [[John Cassian]]
* [[John the New of Suceava]]
* [[Sansala]]
* [[Sava the Goth]]
* [[Stephen the Great]]

==External links==
*[http://www.patriarhia.ro/ The Romanian Patriarchate] (official site)
*[http://roboam.com/identitate/boscorodirea.htm Boscorodirea] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/index.html Biserica Ortodoxa Romana] (in Romanian and English)
*[http://www.biserica.org/Publicatii/2003/NoX/13_index.html Portal Ortodox Romanesc] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.geocities.com/pr_razvan_ionescu/index_i.htm On Science and Faith: Romanian Orthodox Reflections] (in Romanian, French and English)
*[http://www.ortho-logia.com/ OrthoLogia]: Jurnal de apologetica Ortodoxa

===Churches and Monasteries===
*[http://www.golia.ro/ The Golia Monastery]
*[[Putna Monastery]]
*[[Voronet Monastery|Voroneţ Monastery]]

===History===
*[http://www.geocities.com/amadgearu/crestinism.html The Role played by the Christianity in the Genesis of the Romanian People]
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/01/1a_the_romanian_orthodox_church.html Romanian Orthodox Church - History]

===Romanian Orthodoxy outside Romania===
*[http://www.mitropolia-paris.ro/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română a Europei Occidentale şi Meridionale]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Western and Southern Europe (in French)
*[http://www.mitropolia-ro.de/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română pentru Germania şi Europa Centrală]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Germany and Central Europe
*[http://www.egliseroumaine.com/noi-dvs/primire/primire.htm Romanian Church of Paris] in Romanian and French
*[http://www.radur.homechoice.co.uk/roc.html Romanian Orthodox Church in London] in Romanian and English
*[http://www.romarch.org/ Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada] (Church of Romania)
*[http://www.roea.org/ Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America] ([[OCA]])
*[http://www.starlightsite.co.uk/keston/kns/2002/020410MO-01.htm MOLDOVA: Government Fails in Bessarabian Church Appeal]
*[http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/0/75f3ea9f6eb9d125c1256b22002f59fb?OpenDocument Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Others v. Moldova]

[[Category:Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Jurisdictions]]

Talk:Evangelicus of Tomis

2005-03-22T14:53:04Z

James: Introduction to saints' lives

Diocletian

2005-03-22T13:19:51Z

James:

'''Diocletian''' was Emperor of Rome from 240 - 311, when he abdicated due to illness. As Emperor he was known as Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus but was born with the name Diocles, near Spalatum (modern Split) in Dalmatia. His father was the scribe for a wealthy senator and may have been a freed slave.

Diocletian rose through the ranks of the Roman military, eventually becoming Emperor along with a junior co-ruler Maximian. His importance as a figure in Church history is as the instigator of a particularly harsh persecution of Christians which produced many martyrs. He increased the cult of the Emperor, calling himself the son of Jove, and tried to revive the worship of the Roman gods.

In about 297 an edict was made that all soldiers and Imperial officials must sacrifice to the gods - failure to do so resulted in dismissal.

In 303 Diocletian ordered the destruction of all churches and and the burning of all Christian Scriptures. Further edicts in the same year ordered that all Christian clergy be imprisoned and tortured until they agreed to sacrifice to the Roman gods.

In 304 Diocletian made his final order for the persecution of Christians. All Christians, both lay and clergy, who refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods were to be executed.

{{stub}}

[[Category:Emperors and Kings]]

John the New of Suceava

2005-03-22T12:47:24Z

James:

The Great Martyr '''John the New of Suceava''', '''''Sf. Mare Mucenic Ioan cel Nou de la Suceava''''', was born in Trebizond in Asia Minor in about 1300 to devout Orthodox parents. His father was a merchant and John followed in his footsteps. On a trading trip to Cetatea Albă, then part of Moldova but now Bilhorod-Dnistrovs'kyy in the Ukraine, he got to know a Venetian merchant named Reiz whilst they were sailing on the Black Sea. They dicussed the faith many times and, seeing that John always defeated his arguments, the Venetian decided to take revenge.

On arriving in Cetatea Albă, Reiz spread a rumour that John, despite being raised Christian was interested in the Muslim faith. Cetatea Albă at that time had been conquered by Muslim Tartars and when their ruler heard the rumour he called for John. He was taken before the ruler and asked if it was true that he wished to deny the Christian faith and become a Muslim. He responded that he would never give up his faith in the True God in order to worship created things or the inventions of men. This response offended the Tartar ruler who ordered John to renounce his faith on pain of torture. He refused to do so enduring many beatings and was eventually martyred by being dragged behind a horse through the streets of the city before having his head struck off by a 'fanatical Jew'. The year was 1330 and John was only about 30 years old.

On hearing of his death Reiz resolved to dig up the body of the martyr and steal it as a further act of revenge, but the Orthodox priest in the city had a dream of John who informed him of this crime and asked him to bring his body to the Orthodox Church. This was the first miracle of the great martyr. For years his relics were kept in Cetatea Albă where they became famous for healings and other miracles, but eventually Prince ('''''Voievod''''') Alexander the Good ('''''Alexandru cel Bun''''') heard of the martyr's relics and at the urging of Metropolitan Joseph ('''''Iosif''''') Muşat of Moldova arranged to have them brought to his capital, Suceava, on [[June 24]] 1402. John's incorrupt relics have been kept at the monastery bearing his name in that city until the present.

Saint John the New is one of the most venerated saints in Moldova and many miracles are associated with his relics. His feast days are on [[June 2]] and [[June 24]]

[[Category:Martyrs]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]
[[Category:Saints]]

Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)

2005-03-22T12:45:37Z

James:

'''Voroneţ''' is a monastery for women built by the ''Voievod'' of Moldova, St. [[Stephen the Great]] in 1488. The building took 3 months and 21 days to complete. It is one of the famous Painted Monasteries of Bucovina (all these monasteries are frescoed on the outside as well as internally) and is situated within a short distance of the town of Gura Humorului.

The monastery was built to fulfill a promise to Stephen's spiritual father and advisor St. [[Daniel the Hermit]], who had lived in a cell in the area, after a victory in battle over the Ottoman Turks. Upon his death, St. Daniel was buried in the monastery church with the exception of his right index finger which was encased in silver and sent to [[Putna Monastery]].

== Frescoes ==
The frescoes were painted during the reign of one of Stephen's successors, Petru Rareş, between 1534 and 1535 at the request of the Metropolitan of Moldova, Grigore Roşca. The names of the artists are unknown except for one master painter, Marcu, but the term ''Voronet Blue'', a pigment created using ''lapis lazuli'' has entered the artistic lexicon alongside ''Titian Red''. Probably the most accomplished painting at Voroneţ and indeed in all of Moldova is that of the ''Last Judgement'' on one end wall of the monastery church. Another famous painting is that of ''Jesse's Tree'', showing the genealogy of [[Jesus Christ]]. Due to the high quality of the frescoes at Voroneţ, the church, dedicated to the Great [[Martyr]] St. [[George]] has become known as the ''Sistine Chapel of the East''.

[[Category:Monasteries]]
[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]
[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina

2005-03-22T12:42:16Z

James:

[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina

2005-03-22T12:41:48Z

James:

[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]

Voronet Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)

2005-03-22T12:41:05Z

James:

'''Voroneţ''' is a monastery for women built by the ''Voievod'' of Moldova, St. [[Stephen the Great]] in 1488. The building took 3 months and 21 days to complete. It is one of the famous [[Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]] (all these monasteries are frescoed on the outside as well as internally) and is situated within a short distance of the town of Gura Humorului.

The monastery was built to fulfill a promise to Stephen's spiritual father and advisor St. [[Daniel the Hermit]], who had lived in a cell in the area, after a victory in battle over the Ottoman Turks. Upon his death, St. Daniel was buried in the monastery church with the exception of his right index finger which was encased in silver and sent to [[Putna Monastery]].

== Frescoes ==
The frescoes were painted during the reign of one of Stephen's successors, Petru Rareş, between 1534 and 1535 at the request of the Metropolitan of Moldova, Grigore Roşca. The names of the artists are unknown except for one master painter, Marcu, but the term ''Voronet Blue'', a pigment created using ''lapis lazuli'' has entered the artistic lexicon alongside ''Titian Red''. Probably the most accomplished painting at Voroneţ and indeed in all of Moldova is that of the ''Last Judgement'' on one end wall of the monastery church. Another famous painting is that of ''Jesse's Tree'', showing the genealogy of [[Jesus Christ]]. Due to the high quality of the frescoes at Voroneţ, the church, dedicated to the Great [[Martyr]] St. [[George]] has become known as the ''Sistine Chapel of the East''.

[[Category:Monasteries]]
[[Category:Painted Monasteries of Bucovina]]
[[Category:Romanian Monasteries]]

Church of Romania

2005-03-22T11:50:14Z

James: /* Churches and Monasteries */

The '''Church of Romania''' is one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] Orthodox churches. The majority of Romanians in Romania by a very wide margin (about 20 million, or 86.7% of the population, according to the 2002 census data) belong to it. In terms of population, the Church of Romania is second in size only to the [[Church of Russia]].

[[Image:Romanian_hieromonk.jpg|350px|thumb|A Romanian [[hieromonk]]]]
In the Romanian language it is most often known as '''Ortodoxie''', but is also sometimes known as '''Dreapta credinţă''' ("right/correct belief"—compare to Greek ''ορθοδοξια'', "straight/correct belief"). Orthodox believers are also known as '''ortodocşi''', '''dreptcredincioşi''' or '''dreptmăritori creştini'''.

The current primate is His Beatitude [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist (Arapaşu)]], Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, and Patriarch of All Romania, ''Locum Tenens'' of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

==History==
Some Romanian Orthodox regard their church to be the first national, first attested, and first [[apostles|apostolic]] church in Europe and view the [[Apostle Andrew]] as the church's founder.

Most historians, however, hold that Christianity was brought to Romania by the occupying Romans. The Roman province had traces of all imperial religions, including Mithraism, but Christianity, a ''religio illicita'', existed among some of the Romans.

The Roman Empire soon found it was too costly to maintain a permanent garrison north of the lower Danube. As a whole, from 106 AD a permanent military and administrative Roman presence was registered only until 276 AD. (In comparison, Britain was militarily occupied by Romans for more than six centuries—and English is certainly not a Romance language, while the Church of England had no Archbishop before the times of Pope St. [[Gregory the Dialogist|Gregory the Great]].) Clearly, Dacians must have been favored linguistically and religiously by some unique ethnological features, so that after only 169 years of an anemic military occupation they emerged as a major Romance people, strongly represented religiously at the first [[Ecumenical Councils]], as the Ante-Nicene Fathers duly recorded.

When the Romanians formed as a people, it is quite clear that they already had the Christian faith, as proved by tradition, as well as by some interesting archeological and linguistic evidence. Basic terms of Christianity are of Latin origin: such as ''church'' (''biserică'' from ''basilica''), ''God'' (''Dumnezeu'' from ''Domine Deus''), ''Pascha'' (''Paşti'' from ''Paschae''), ''Pagan'' (''Păgân'' from ''Paganus''), ''Angel'' (''Înger'' from ''Angelus''). Some of them (especially ''Biserica'') are unique to Orthodoxy as it is found in Romania.

Very few traces can be found in the Romanian names that are left from the Roman Christianity after the Slavic influence began. All the names of the saints were preserved in Latin form: ''Sântămăria'' (the [[Theotokos]]), ''Sâmpietru'' ([[Apostle Peter]]), ''Sângiordz'' (St. [[George]]) and ''Sânmedru'' (St. [[Demetrius]]). The non-religious onomastic proof of pre-Christian habits, like ''Sânziana'' and ''Cosânzeana'' (from ''Sancta Diana'' and ''Qua Sancta Diana'') is only of anecdotal value in this context. Yet, the highly spiritualized places in the mountains, the processions, the calendars, and even the physical locations of the early churches were clearly the same as those of the Dacians. Even the Apostle Andrew is known locally as the Apostle "of the wolves"—with very old and large connotations, whereby the wolf's head was an ethnicon and a symbol of military and spiritual "fire" for Dacians.

===Christianity in Scythia Minor===
While Dacia was only for a short time part of the Roman Empire, Scythia Minor (modern Dobrogea) was part of it much longer and after the breakdown of the Roman Empire, it became part of the [[Byzantine Empire]].

[[Image:Four_Martyrs_tomb.jpg|thumb|left|Tomb of the Four Martyrs, Niculiţel, Romania]]
The first encounter of Christianity in Scythia Minor was when St. Andrew, brother of St. [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] and their disciples passed through it in the 1st century. Later on, Christianity became the predominant faith of the region, proven by the large number of remains of early Christian churches. The Roman administration was ruthless with the Christians, proven by the great number of [[martyr]]s.

Bishop [[Ephrem of Romania|Ephrem]], killed in on [[March 7]], 304 in Tomis, was the first Christian martyr of this region and was followed by countless others, especially during the repression ordered by emperors [[Diocletian]], [[Galerius]], [[Licinius]] and [[Julian the Apostate]].

An important, impressive number of [[diocese]]s and [[martyrs]] are first attested during the times of Ante-Nicene Fathers. The first known Daco-Roman Christian [[priest]] Montanus and his wife Maxima were drowned, as martyrs, because of their faith, on [[March 26]] 304.

The 1971 archeological digs under the paleo-Christian [[basilica]] in Niculiţel (near ancient Noviodunum in Scythia Minor) unearthed an even older martyrion. Besides Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos who suffered martyrdom under [[Diocletian]] (304-305), from under the crypt were unnearthed the [[relics]] of two previous martyrs who died during the repressions of Emperor [[Decius]] (249-251].

[[Image:Four Martyrs inscription.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Inscription in the Tomb of the Four Martyrs, listing the names Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos]]

The names of these martyrs had been placed since their death in church records, and the find of the tomb with the names written inside was astonishing. The fact that the relics of the famous St. [[Sava the Goth]] (martyred by drowning in the river Buzău, under Athanaric on [[April 12]], 372) were reverently received by St. [[Basil the Great]] conclusively demonstrate that (unlike bishop [[Wulfila]]), St. Sava was a follower of the Nicene faith, not a [[heresiarch]] like [[Arius]].

Once the Dacian-born Emperor [[Galerius]] proclaimed freedom for Christians all over the Roman Empire in 311, the city of Tomis alone (modern Constanţa) became a [[metropolis]] with as many as 14 [[diocese|bishoprics]].

===Middle Ages===
Following the complex relationship of the Byzantine Patriarchates and Bulgarian kingdoms, Romanians adopted [[Church Slavonic]] in the [[liturgy]] from the early 9th century. However, most of the religious texts were learned by heart by [[priest]]s who either did not understand Slavic languages or always wanted to be understood by their own community, or both. Some priests used to mumble (''a boscorodi'') the sermon, using certain Slavic prefixes, so at least it would sound like Slavonic.

[[Image:Turnu_Severin_church.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Foundation walls of the oldest-known Romanian Orthodox church in Turnu Severin]]
Since Dacia south of the Danube was also known as Vlahia Mare ("Greater Wallachia"), the region north of the Danube was known as Ungro-Vlahia—the "Hungarian Wallachia." This important geographical and ethnogenetic fact of Romania is still reflected into the name of the first Metropolis of Ungro-Vlachia, which was founded in 1359 in Curtea de Argeş. Another Romanian Metropolis was founded in 1401 in Suceava, Moldavia.

===Translation of the Bible===
Ecclesiastical life flourished in all organized forms on both sides of the Lower Danube. However, metropolia for the Romanians north of the Danube were only created in the late 13th century and early 14th century, according to the political developments there. Many religious texts were to be periodically transcribed until the 16th century in [[Church Slavonic]] only.

[[Image:Densus_church.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The stone church of Densuş, Transylvania, built on the site of a pre-Christian temple]]
However, important Romanian language translations certainly circulated, including the ''Codicele Voroneţean'' (the Codex of Voroneţ). The Bucharest Bible (''Biblia de la Bucureşti'') was the first complete Romanian translation of the [[Holy Scripture|Bible]] in the late 17th century. It was published in 1688 during the reign of Şerban Cantacuzino in Wallachia and is considered a mature and highly developed work.

Its cultural import is not unlike that of the [[Authorized Version|King James Version]] for the English language. This could not have been achieved without much previous (and perhaps as yet unknown) anonymous translation work. For this, a wealth of Byzantine manuscripts, brought north of the Danube in the "Byzance after Byzance" movement described by famous historian Nicolae Iorga is an outstanding proof.

After this time, the importance of Church Slavonic and Greek in the Church of Romania began to fade. 1736 was the year when the last Slavonic liturgy was published in Wallachia, but only in 1863 did Romanian become officially the only language of the Romanian church.

Although most of the time under foreign suzerainty (under the[Ottoman Turks in Moldavia and Wallachia and under Hungarian rule in Transylvania), Romanians characteristically kept their Orthodox faith as part of their national identity.

===The Uniate Church===
In 1698 in Transylvania, a small number of Romania's Orthodox Christians granted ecclesiastical authority to the Pope of [[Roman Catholic Church|Rome]], but retained the Orthodox rite. Thus, they went into [[schism]] from the [[Orthodox Church]].

This action is seen by some historians as a political move designed to obtain the equality of rights with Roman Catholic citizens. Indeed, by becoming members of the "Greek-rite Roman Catholic" church, a minority of Romanians in Transylvania eventually managed to be recognized as a nation by the Hapsburg rulers, achieving status equal to the three Transylvanian peoples collectively known as the ''Unio Trium Nationum''. Along with this came the arrival of the Jesuits who attempted to align Transylvania more closely with Western Europe.

This ecclesiastical group is known today as the Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church.

===Recent history===
The Romanian Orthodox Church has been fully [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] since 1885. Many Romanians believe the Orthodox faith to be an essential part of their national and ethnic identity, although a minority of Romanians are members of other faiths.

====The Church in Moldova====
Romanians in the Republic of Moldova belonging to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, having resisted Russification for 192 years (after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire in 1812), currently number about 2 million. The Metropolis of Bessarabia is part of the Romanian patriarchate.

In 2001 it won a landmark legal victory against the government of the Republic of Moldova at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. Traditionally, Orthodox Christians in Moldova had been part of the Church of Romania, but due to Stalin's annexation of the country in 1944, the church there was brought under the authority of the [[Church of Russia]]. As such, Moldova's government had been refusing to recognize the Romanian church's authority in Moldova, attempting to force the Bessarabian metropolis to submit to the Moscow Patriarchate. With the legal ruling in 2001, however, the Metropolis of Bessarabia was declared to be a part of the Church of Romania.

===Unique features===
The Romanian Orthodox Church is the only one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] or [[autonomy|autonomous]] Orthodox churches using a Romance language as its liturgical language.

Byzantine religious records also mention a unique form of [[bishop|bishopric]] in the region—namely the ''[[chorepiscopos|chorepiscopate]]'' or ''countryside episcopacy''—as contrasted with the better-known religious centers in large cities. This office can be compared to the abbot-bishops of Ireland, who united the functions of countryside [[abbot]] with that of [[diocese|diocesan]] [[bishop]] in another country that did not emphasize an urban episcopate, at least for a time.

The very word ''church'' in Romanian, ''biserică'', is unique in Europe. It comes from Latin ''basilica'' (from ''βασιλικα'', meaning "communications received from the king" and "the place where the Emperor administered justice"), rather than ''ecclesia'' (from ''εκκλησία'', meaning "those called out").

==Canonical status==
The Church of Romania is organized as a [[patriarchate]]. The highest hierarchical and canonical authority of the church is the [[Holy Synod]].
[[Image:Romanian_Patriarchate_palace.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The Palace of the Romanian Patriarchate]]

==Organization==
There are five [[metropolis|metropolia]] and ten [[archdiocese]]s in Romania, and more than twelve thousand [[priest]]s and [[deacon]]s. Almost 400 [[monasticism|monasteries]] exist inside the country for some 3500 monks and 5000 nuns. Three diasporan netropolia and two diasporan dioceses function outside Romania proper. As of 2004, there are, inside Romania, fifteen theological universities where more than ten thousand students (some of them from Bessarabia, Bukovina and Serbia) currently study for a doctoral degree. More than 14,500 churches (traditionally named ''lăcaşe de cult'') exist in Romania for the Orthodox faithful. As of 2002, almost 1,000 of these were either in the process of being built or rebuilt.

==Famous theologians==
[[Image:Dumitru_Staniloae.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Dumitru Staniloae|Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae]]]]
Father [[Dumitru Staniloae|Dumitru Stăniloae]] (1903-1993) was one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the 20th century. His ''magnum opus'', aside from his ''Duhovnicesc'' ("deepest spiritual"), is the comprehensive collection, compiled over 45 years, known as the ''Romanian Philokalia''.

==List of Patriarchs==
* [[Miron (Cristea) of Romania|Miron]] (1925-1939)
* [[Nicodim (Munteanu) of Romania|Nicodim]] (1939-1948)
* [[Iustinian (Marina) of Romania|Iustinian]] (1948-1977)
* [[Iustin (Moisescu) of Romania|Iustin]] (1977-1986)
* [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist]] (1986-)

==Structure of the Patriarchate==
Metropolitan See of Muntenia and Dobrogea
* Archdiocese of Bucharest
* Archdiocese of Tomis
* Archdiocese of Targoviste
* Diocese of Buzau
* Diocese of Arges and Muscel
* Diocese of Dunarea de Jos
* Diocese of Slobozia and Calarasi
* Diocese of Alexandria and Teleorman

Metropolitan See of Moldova and Bucovina
* Archdiocese of Iasi
* Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti
* Diocese of Roman
* Diocese of Husi

Metropolitan See of Transylvania
* Archdiocese of Sibiu
* Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj
* Archdiocese of Alba Iulia
* Diocese of Oradea, Bihor and Salaj
* Diocese of Maramures and Satmar
* Diocese of Covasna and Harghita

Metropolitan See of Oltenia
* Archdiocese of Craiova
* Diocese of Ramnic

Metropolitan See of Banat
* Archdiocese of Timisoara
* Diocese of Arad, Ienopole and Halmagiu
* Diocese of Cansebes

Autonomous Metropolitan See of Bessarabia

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See for Germany and Central Europe

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See wor Western and Southern Europe

Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Hungary

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Yugoslavia

==Romanian Saints==
* [[Daniel the Hermit]]
* [[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
* [[Gherman of Dobrogea]]
* [[John Cassian]]
* [[John the New of Suceava]]
* [[Stephen the Great]]

==External links==
*[http://www.patriarhia.ro/ The Romanian Patriarchate] (official site)
*[http://roboam.com/identitate/boscorodirea.htm Boscorodirea] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/index.html Biserica Ortodoxa Romana] (in Romanian and English)
*[http://www.biserica.org/Publicatii/2003/NoX/13_index.html Portal Ortodox Romanesc] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.geocities.com/pr_razvan_ionescu/index_i.htm On Science and Faith: Romanian Orthodox Reflections] (in Romanian, French and English)
*[http://www.ortho-logia.com/ OrthoLogia]: Jurnal de apologetica Ortodoxa

===Churches and Monasteries===
*[http://www.golia.ro/ The Golia Monastery]
*[[Putna Monastery]]
*[[Voronet Monastery|Voroneţ Monastery]]

===History===
*[http://www.geocities.com/amadgearu/crestinism.html The Role played by the Christianity in the Genesis of the Romanian People]
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/01/1a_the_romanian_orthodox_church.html Romanian Orthodox Church - History]

===Romanian Orthodoxy outside Romania===
*[http://www.mitropolia-paris.ro/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română a Europei Occidentale şi Meridionale]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Western and Southern Europe (in French)
*[http://www.mitropolia-ro.de/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română pentru Germania şi Europa Centrală]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Germany and Central Europe
*[http://www.egliseroumaine.com/noi-dvs/primire/primire.htm Romanian Church of Paris] in Romanian and French
*[http://www.radur.homechoice.co.uk/roc.html Romanian Orthodox Church in London] in Romanian and English
*[http://www.romarch.org/ Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada] (Church of Romania)
*[http://www.roea.org/ Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America] ([[OCA]])
*[http://www.starlightsite.co.uk/keston/kns/2002/020410MO-01.htm MOLDOVA: Government Fails in Bessarabian Church Appeal]
*[http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/0/75f3ea9f6eb9d125c1256b22002f59fb?OpenDocument Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Others v. Moldova]

[[Category:Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Jurisdictions]]

Evangelicus of Tomis

2005-03-22T11:39:56Z

James:

'''Evangelicus of Tomis''' is the first known bishop of Tomis a Greek city in Scythia Minor, a region evangelised in the first century by the [[Apostle]] [[Andrew]]. Tomis is now known as Constanţa, the largest city on the Black Sea coast of Dobrogea, Romania.

St. Evangelicus was bishop of Tomis from about 290 to 300 and was reknowned for converting many still pagan Dacians and Scythians to the Christian faith. He was mentioned in the ''Act of Martyrdom'' of Sts. [[Epictetus the Priest]] and [[Astion the Monk]] martyred on [[July 8]] in Halmyris (modern Dunavăţ). St. Astion's parents were converted by the Priest Bonosus and baptised by Bishop Evangelicus in Halmyris fourteen days after their son's martyrdom.

St. Evangelicus is believed to have been martyred during the persecution of [[Diocletian]]. His feast day is [[July 7]]

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Romanian Saints]]

Talk:Evangelicus of Tomis

2005-03-22T11:38:47Z

James:

Evangelicus of Tomis

2005-03-22T11:36:43Z

James:

Church of Romania

2005-03-22T11:05:01Z

James: /* Romanian Saints */

The '''Church of Romania''' is one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] Orthodox churches. The majority of Romanians in Romania by a very wide margin (about 20 million, or 86.7% of the population, according to the 2002 census data) belong to it. In terms of population, the Church of Romania is second in size only to the [[Church of Russia]].

[[Image:Romanian_hieromonk.jpg|350px|thumb|A Romanian [[hieromonk]]]]
In the Romanian language it is most often known as '''Ortodoxie''', but is also sometimes known as '''Dreapta credinţă''' ("right/correct belief"—compare to Greek ''ορθοδοξια'', "straight/correct belief"). Orthodox believers are also known as '''ortodocşi''', '''dreptcredincioşi''' or '''dreptmăritori creştini'''.

The current primate is His Beatitude [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist (Arapaşu)]], Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, and Patriarch of All Romania, ''Locum Tenens'' of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

==History==
Some Romanian Orthodox regard their church to be the first national, first attested, and first [[apostles|apostolic]] church in Europe and view the [[Apostle Andrew]] as the church's founder.

Most historians, however, hold that Christianity was brought to Romania by the occupying Romans. The Roman province had traces of all imperial religions, including Mithraism, but Christianity, a ''religio illicita'', existed among some of the Romans.

The Roman Empire soon found it was too costly to maintain a permanent garrison north of the lower Danube. As a whole, from 106 AD a permanent military and administrative Roman presence was registered only until 276 AD. (In comparison, Britain was militarily occupied by Romans for more than six centuries—and English is certainly not a Romance language, while the Church of England had no Archbishop before the times of Pope St. [[Gregory the Dialogist|Gregory the Great]].) Clearly, Dacians must have been favored linguistically and religiously by some unique ethnological features, so that after only 169 years of an anemic military occupation they emerged as a major Romance people, strongly represented religiously at the first [[Ecumenical Councils]], as the Ante-Nicene Fathers duly recorded.

When the Romanians formed as a people, it is quite clear that they already had the Christian faith, as proved by tradition, as well as by some interesting archeological and linguistic evidence. Basic terms of Christianity are of Latin origin: such as ''church'' (''biserică'' from ''basilica''), ''God'' (''Dumnezeu'' from ''Domine Deus''), ''Pascha'' (''Paşti'' from ''Paschae''), ''Pagan'' (''Păgân'' from ''Paganus''), ''Angel'' (''Înger'' from ''Angelus''). Some of them (especially ''Biserica'') are unique to Orthodoxy as it is found in Romania.

Very few traces can be found in the Romanian names that are left from the Roman Christianity after the Slavic influence began. All the names of the saints were preserved in Latin form: ''Sântămăria'' (the [[Theotokos]]), ''Sâmpietru'' ([[Apostle Peter]]), ''Sângiordz'' (St. [[George]]) and ''Sânmedru'' (St. [[Demetrius]]). The non-religious onomastic proof of pre-Christian habits, like ''Sânziana'' and ''Cosânzeana'' (from ''Sancta Diana'' and ''Qua Sancta Diana'') is only of anecdotal value in this context. Yet, the highly spiritualized places in the mountains, the processions, the calendars, and even the physical locations of the early churches were clearly the same as those of the Dacians. Even the Apostle Andrew is known locally as the Apostle "of the wolves"—with very old and large connotations, whereby the wolf's head was an ethnicon and a symbol of military and spiritual "fire" for Dacians.

===Christianity in Scythia Minor===
While Dacia was only for a short time part of the Roman Empire, Scythia Minor (modern Dobrogea) was part of it much longer and after the breakdown of the Roman Empire, it became part of the [[Byzantine Empire]].

[[Image:Four_Martyrs_tomb.jpg|thumb|left|Tomb of the Four Martyrs, Niculiţel, Romania]]
The first encounter of Christianity in Scythia Minor was when St. Andrew, brother of St. [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] and their disciples passed through it in the 1st century. Later on, Christianity became the predominant faith of the region, proven by the large number of remains of early Christian churches. The Roman administration was ruthless with the Christians, proven by the great number of [[martyr]]s.

Bishop [[Ephrem of Romania|Ephrem]], killed in on [[March 7]], 304 in Tomis, was the first Christian martyr of this region and was followed by countless others, especially during the repression ordered by emperors [[Diocletian]], [[Galerius]], [[Licinius]] and [[Julian the Apostate]].

An important, impressive number of [[diocese]]s and [[martyrs]] are first attested during the times of Ante-Nicene Fathers. The first known Daco-Roman Christian [[priest]] Montanus and his wife Maxima were drowned, as martyrs, because of their faith, on [[March 26]] 304.

The 1971 archeological digs under the paleo-Christian [[basilica]] in Niculiţel (near ancient Noviodunum in Scythia Minor) unearthed an even older martyrion. Besides Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos who suffered martyrdom under [[Diocletian]] (304-305), from under the crypt were unnearthed the [[relics]] of two previous martyrs who died during the repressions of Emperor [[Decius]] (249-251].

[[Image:Four Martyrs inscription.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Inscription in the Tomb of the Four Martyrs, listing the names Zoticos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos]]

The names of these martyrs had been placed since their death in church records, and the find of the tomb with the names written inside was astonishing. The fact that the relics of the famous St. [[Sava the Goth]] (martyred by drowning in the river Buzău, under Athanaric on [[April 12]], 372) were reverently received by St. [[Basil the Great]] conclusively demonstrate that (unlike bishop [[Wulfila]]), St. Sava was a follower of the Nicene faith, not a [[heresiarch]] like [[Arius]].

Once the Dacian-born Emperor [[Galerius]] proclaimed freedom for Christians all over the Roman Empire in 311, the city of Tomis alone (modern Constanţa) became a [[metropolis]] with as many as 14 [[diocese|bishoprics]].

===Middle Ages===
Following the complex relationship of the Byzantine Patriarchates and Bulgarian kingdoms, Romanians adopted [[Church Slavonic]] in the [[liturgy]] from the early 9th century. However, most of the religious texts were learned by heart by [[priest]]s who either did not understand Slavic languages or always wanted to be understood by their own community, or both. Some priests used to mumble (''a boscorodi'') the sermon, using certain Slavic prefixes, so at least it would sound like Slavonic.

[[Image:Turnu_Severin_church.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Foundation walls of the oldest-known Romanian Orthodox church in Turnu Severin]]
Since Dacia south of the Danube was also known as Vlahia Mare ("Greater Wallachia"), the region north of the Danube was known as Ungro-Vlahia—the "Hungarian Wallachia." This important geographical and ethnogenetic fact of Romania is still reflected into the name of the first Metropolis of Ungro-Vlachia, which was founded in 1359 in Curtea de Argeş. Another Romanian Metropolis was founded in 1401 in Suceava, Moldavia.

===Translation of the Bible===
Ecclesiastical life flourished in all organized forms on both sides of the Lower Danube. However, metropolia for the Romanians north of the Danube were only created in the late 13th century and early 14th century, according to the political developments there. Many religious texts were to be periodically transcribed until the 16th century in [[Church Slavonic]] only.

[[Image:Densus_church.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The stone church of Densuş, Transylvania, built on the site of a pre-Christian temple]]
However, important Romanian language translations certainly circulated, including the ''Codicele Voroneţean'' (the Codex of Voroneţ). The Bucharest Bible (''Biblia de la Bucureşti'') was the first complete Romanian translation of the [[Holy Scripture|Bible]] in the late 17th century. It was published in 1688 during the reign of Şerban Cantacuzino in Wallachia and is considered a mature and highly developed work.

Its cultural import is not unlike that of the [[Authorized Version|King James Version]] for the English language. This could not have been achieved without much previous (and perhaps as yet unknown) anonymous translation work. For this, a wealth of Byzantine manuscripts, brought north of the Danube in the "Byzance after Byzance" movement described by famous historian Nicolae Iorga is an outstanding proof.

After this time, the importance of Church Slavonic and Greek in the Church of Romania began to fade. 1736 was the year when the last Slavonic liturgy was published in Wallachia, but only in 1863 did Romanian become officially the only language of the Romanian church.

Although most of the time under foreign suzerainty (under the[Ottoman Turks in Moldavia and Wallachia and under Hungarian rule in Transylvania), Romanians characteristically kept their Orthodox faith as part of their national identity.

===The Uniate Church===
In 1698 in Transylvania, a small number of Romania's Orthodox Christians granted ecclesiastical authority to the Pope of [[Roman Catholic Church|Rome]], but retained the Orthodox rite. Thus, they went into [[schism]] from the [[Orthodox Church]].

This action is seen by some historians as a political move designed to obtain the equality of rights with Roman Catholic citizens. Indeed, by becoming members of the "Greek-rite Roman Catholic" church, a minority of Romanians in Transylvania eventually managed to be recognized as a nation by the Hapsburg rulers, achieving status equal to the three Transylvanian peoples collectively known as the ''Unio Trium Nationum''. Along with this came the arrival of the Jesuits who attempted to align Transylvania more closely with Western Europe.

This ecclesiastical group is known today as the Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church.

===Recent history===
The Romanian Orthodox Church has been fully [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] since 1885. Many Romanians believe the Orthodox faith to be an essential part of their national and ethnic identity, although a minority of Romanians are members of other faiths.

====The Church in Moldova====
Romanians in the Republic of Moldova belonging to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, having resisted Russification for 192 years (after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire in 1812), currently number about 2 million. The Metropolis of Bessarabia is part of the Romanian patriarchate.

In 2001 it won a landmark legal victory against the government of the Republic of Moldova at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. Traditionally, Orthodox Christians in Moldova had been part of the Church of Romania, but due to Stalin's annexation of the country in 1944, the church there was brought under the authority of the [[Church of Russia]]. As such, Moldova's government had been refusing to recognize the Romanian church's authority in Moldova, attempting to force the Bessarabian metropolis to submit to the Moscow Patriarchate. With the legal ruling in 2001, however, the Metropolis of Bessarabia was declared to be a part of the Church of Romania.

===Unique features===
The Romanian Orthodox Church is the only one of the [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] or [[autonomy|autonomous]] Orthodox churches using a Romance language as its liturgical language.

Byzantine religious records also mention a unique form of [[bishop|bishopric]] in the region—namely the ''[[chorepiscopos|chorepiscopate]]'' or ''countryside episcopacy''—as contrasted with the better-known religious centers in large cities. This office can be compared to the abbot-bishops of Ireland, who united the functions of countryside [[abbot]] with that of [[diocese|diocesan]] [[bishop]] in another country that did not emphasize an urban episcopate, at least for a time.

The very word ''church'' in Romanian, ''biserică'', is unique in Europe. It comes from Latin ''basilica'' (from ''βασιλικα'', meaning "communications received from the king" and "the place where the Emperor administered justice"), rather than ''ecclesia'' (from ''εκκλησία'', meaning "those called out").

==Canonical status==
The Church of Romania is organized as a [[patriarchate]]. The highest hierarchical and canonical authority of the church is the [[Holy Synod]].
[[Image:Romanian_Patriarchate_palace.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The Palace of the Romanian Patriarchate]]

==Organization==
There are five [[metropolis|metropolia]] and ten [[archdiocese]]s in Romania, and more than twelve thousand [[priest]]s and [[deacon]]s. Almost 400 [[monasticism|monasteries]] exist inside the country for some 3500 monks and 5000 nuns. Three diasporan netropolia and two diasporan dioceses function outside Romania proper. As of 2004, there are, inside Romania, fifteen theological universities where more than ten thousand students (some of them from Bessarabia, Bukovina and Serbia) currently study for a doctoral degree. More than 14,500 churches (traditionally named ''lăcaşe de cult'') exist in Romania for the Orthodox faithful. As of 2002, almost 1,000 of these were either in the process of being built or rebuilt.

==Famous theologians==
[[Image:Dumitru_Staniloae.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Dumitru Staniloae|Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae]]]]
Father [[Dumitru Staniloae|Dumitru Stăniloae]] (1903-1993) was one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the 20th century. His ''magnum opus'', aside from his ''Duhovnicesc'' ("deepest spiritual"), is the comprehensive collection, compiled over 45 years, known as the ''Romanian Philokalia''.

==List of Patriarchs==
* [[Miron (Cristea) of Romania|Miron]] (1925-1939)
* [[Nicodim (Munteanu) of Romania|Nicodim]] (1939-1948)
* [[Iustinian (Marina) of Romania|Iustinian]] (1948-1977)
* [[Iustin (Moisescu) of Romania|Iustin]] (1977-1986)
* [[Teoctist (Arapasu) of Romania|Teoctist]] (1986-)

==Structure of the Patriarchate==
Metropolitan See of Muntenia and Dobrogea
* Archdiocese of Bucharest
* Archdiocese of Tomis
* Archdiocese of Targoviste
* Diocese of Buzau
* Diocese of Arges and Muscel
* Diocese of Dunarea de Jos
* Diocese of Slobozia and Calarasi
* Diocese of Alexandria and Teleorman

Metropolitan See of Moldova and Bucovina
* Archdiocese of Iasi
* Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti
* Diocese of Roman
* Diocese of Husi

Metropolitan See of Transylvania
* Archdiocese of Sibiu
* Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj
* Archdiocese of Alba Iulia
* Diocese of Oradea, Bihor and Salaj
* Diocese of Maramures and Satmar
* Diocese of Covasna and Harghita

Metropolitan See of Oltenia
* Archdiocese of Craiova
* Diocese of Ramnic

Metropolitan See of Banat
* Archdiocese of Timisoara
* Diocese of Arad, Ienopole and Halmagiu
* Diocese of Cansebes

Autonomous Metropolitan See of Bessarabia

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See for Germany and Central Europe

Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan See wor Western and Southern Europe

Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Hungary

Romanian Orthodox Diocese in Yugoslavia

==Romanian Saints==
* [[Daniel the Hermit]]
* [[Evangelicus of Tomis]]
* [[Gherman of Dobrogea]]
* [[John Cassian]]
* [[John the New of Suceava]]
* [[Stephen the Great]]

==External links==
*[http://www.patriarhia.ro/ The Romanian Patriarchate] (official site)
*[http://roboam.com/identitate/boscorodirea.htm Boscorodirea] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/index.html Biserica Ortodoxa Romana] (in Romanian and English)
*[http://www.biserica.org/Publicatii/2003/NoX/13_index.html Portal Ortodox Romanesc] (in Romanian)
*[http://www.geocities.com/pr_razvan_ionescu/index_i.htm On Science and Faith: Romanian Orthodox Reflections] (in Romanian, French and English)
*[http://www.ortho-logia.com/ OrthoLogia]: Jurnal de apologetica Ortodoxa

===Churches and Monasteries===
*[http://www.golia.ro/ The Golia Monastery]
*[[Putna Monastery]]

===History===
*[http://www.geocities.com/amadgearu/crestinism.html The Role played by the Christianity in the Genesis of the Romanian People]
*[http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html_en/01/1a_the_romanian_orthodox_church.html Romanian Orthodox Church - History]

===Romanian Orthodoxy outside Romania===
*[http://www.mitropolia-paris.ro/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română a Europei Occidentale şi Meridionale]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Western and Southern Europe (in French)
*[http://www.mitropolia-ro.de/ Mitropolia Ortodoxă Română pentru Germania şi Europa Centrală]: Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Germany and Central Europe
*[http://www.egliseroumaine.com/noi-dvs/primire/primire.htm Romanian Church of Paris] in Romanian and French
*[http://www.radur.homechoice.co.uk/roc.html Romanian Orthodox Church in London] in Romanian and English
*[http://www.romarch.org/ Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada] (Church of Romania)
*[http://www.roea.org/ Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America] ([[OCA]])
*[http://www.starlightsite.co.uk/keston/kns/2002/020410MO-01.htm MOLDOVA: Government Fails in Bessarabian Church Appeal]
*[http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/0/75f3ea9f6eb9d125c1256b22002f59fb?OpenDocument Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Others v. Moldova]

[[Category:Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Jurisdictions]]

Talk:Martyr

2005-03-22T09:56:25Z

James:

Should this perhaps be a sub-category of saints? I'm just thinking that it might be useful to have a list of all the articles on martyrs in one place, like we have for Church Fathers and monastics, and probably should have for confessors etc.[[User:James|James]] 03:56, 22 Mar 2005 (CST)

Talk:John the New of Suceava

2005-03-22T09:27:28Z

James:

With regards to the martyrdom of St. John the New, the official life of the saint I have says that he was actually beheaded by a 'fanatical Jew'. I've left this out because I'm not sure it's totally relevant and in this day and age might be considered to be anti-Semitic (assuming the information is correct, of course, it's nothing of the sort, but I'd rather not offend people). If you think I ought to add this detail, please let me know. Otherwise, I shall leave it out.[[User:James|James]] 03:27, 22 Mar 2005 (CST)