Chicago, September 30, 2022
Brâncoveanu Martyrs. Photo: Facebook
The Romanian Orthodox cathedral in Chicago had the great joy recently of hosting the relics of several saints that are currently visiting the U.S.
Relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs arrived at the cathedral on Monday, September 26, where they remained until the next day. The relics are being carried on a pilgrimage throughout the U.S. by Fr. Emil Nedelea Cărămizaru, the rector of the Church of St. George in Bucharest, where the relics are usually kept, reports the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas.
St. Constantin Brâncoveanu was ruler of Wallachia from October 29, 1688 to March 24, 1714, when he was dethroned and captured by the Ottomans and transported to Istanbul together with his four sons, Constantin, Stephan, Radu, and Matei, where he was tortured and eventually executed by decapitation together with his sons and his treasurer Ianache Vacarescu.
Photo: mitropolia.us
The relics were welcomed at the cathedral by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae and the cathedral clergy. An akathist to St. Nicholas was read, after which Fr. Emil spoke about how the relics, including the right hand of St. Nicholas, arrived at his church in Bucharest:
Father Emil spoke about the reverence that Prince Michael the Brave had for Saint Nicholas, who in extraordinarily difficult circumstances for the future prince, when he was an important official in Craiova, after the saint saved his life through a great miracle. So, when he became Prince, he entrusted a priest with a very important spiritual mission: to intercede before the civil leadership in Bari in hopes of bringing the relics of Saint Nicholas to Bucharest, which was indeed fulfilled. The prince entrusted the invaluable treasure to Metropolitan Euthymius of Wallachia (1594-1602) and requested that for the saint’s hand he make a gold cover adorned with precious stones. Therefore, according to the wishes of the prince, the holy relics were placed in a beautiful reliquary, decorated with filigree, as the inscription on the reliquary says. Father Emil continued the story by describing how the holy treasure was not taken to the Mihai Vodă church in Bucharest, which was founded by Prince Michael, but instead to the New St. George church.
The next day, Met. Nicolae celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the cathedral clergy and Fr. Emil for the feast of St. Anthimos of Iberia, a great Wallachian saint. Fr. Emil spoke about the connection between St. Anthimos and the holy voivode St. Constantin Brâncoveanu, and with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, he offered a particle of the relics of the Brâncoveanu Martyrs to Met. Nicolae for the parish dedicated to these saints in Fairfield, Connecticut.
The relics of St. Nicholas and the Martyrs will then be taken to various other churches on the west coast:
October 2 – Resurrection Parish, Sacramento, CA https://invierea-domnului.org /
October 4 – Saints Joachim and Anne Parish, Seattle, WA http://saintana.org/
October 6-7 – Ascension of the Holy Cross Parish, Upland, CA https://elevationoftheholycross.org/
October 8 – Ascension of the Holy Cross Parish, Hayward, CA https://www.inaltarea-domnului.org/
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