Chirilovca, Moldova, May 10, 2021
From the patronal feast on Bright Thursday. Photo: Facebook
The first Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Great Martyr George in the Moldovan village of Chirilovca was celebrated on holy Pascha night, almost a century after construction on the church had begun, reports the Diocese of Bălți of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The church’s first patronal feast was also celebrated during Bright Week.
The foundation stone of the church was laid in the interwar period, and by 1940, the walls were erected to the top layer. Then, with World War II and the Soviet occupation promoting militant atheism, “with disastrous consequences for a society built on Christian and national values,” the construction of the church was stopped and it was left to fall into disrepair.
Photo: Facebook
In 2016, thanks to the care of the local clergy and faithful, the construction on the church was resumed, and at the same time, it was decided to transform it into a monastery. The monastery returned to the Romanian Church’s Metropolis of Bessarabia in 2019.
His Grace Bishop Antonie of Bălți served at the new monastery on Bright Tuesday and congratulated the nuns with the feast of Pascha, emphasizing the importance of monasteries as strongholds against the attacks of secularism, consumerism, and neo-Marxism.
Bp. Antonie served at the monastery again on Thursday, on the feast of St. George according to the Old Calendar. The hierarch spoke about the role of saints in the life of the Church and Christians and congratulated the nuns with their first patronal feast.
A cross procession was held after the Divine Liturgy, followed by a Paschal agape feast.
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