Iași, Romania, October 15, 2024
Photo: Basilica News Agency
More than 250,000 pious Orthodox Christian faithful went on pilgrimage to the Romanian city of Iași over the past several days to venerate the relics of the beloved St. Parascheva.
The feast of St. Parascheva, October 14, is traditionally one of the largest religious events in Romania, drawing pilgrims from throughout Romania and beyond over the days leading up to her feast.
Her relics have resided in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Constantinople, and she is greatly loved throughout the Balkans and the entire Orthodox world, but they have remained in the cathedral in Iași, working countless miracles, since 1641.
Traditionally, the relics of another saint are also brought for the pilgrimage. This year, relics of the Great Martyr and Healer St. Panteleimon were brought from St. Paul’s Monastery on Mt. Athos, reports the Basilica News Agency.
This year, as of Sunday afternoon, approximately 216,000 pilgrims had venerated the relics of the great saints, while another 45,000 were still waiting in line. The waiting time for veneration was about 16 hours at that time, according to the organizers.
The Divine Liturgy for the feast of St. Parascheva was celebrated on the outdoor altar of the Metropolitan Cathedral, led by Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, together with a host of hierarchs from the Romanian Orthodox Church and other visiting hierarchs from Greece, the Middle East, and North Macedonia.
Abp. NIkitas spoke in his sermon about the importance of pilgrimage in the life of Christians, offering Saint Parascheva as an example.
The local hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan of Iași, also spoke about the meaning of pilgrimage:
Setting out on the journey, the pilgrim freely surrenders to God. He surrenders to God not as an external authority that imposes on us what to do and what not to do. The pilgrim places himself in God’s hand as a source of joy, inner peace, and redemptive forgiveness.
Many shed tears. Tears of pain for sins and trials. Tears of joy and gratitude. Without joy or pain, tears don't flow. And tears wash amazingly effectively. They wash the heart of unlovingness and the mind of the poison of personal superiority consciousness.
Christians live the mystery of pilgrimage as an act of asceticism useful for themselves. At the same time, they confess, they cry inwardly, they wait. Pilgrims confess, from their own experience or that of history, that without God everything hurts. Life hurts, death hurts, success hurts, defeat hurts. Pain all along the line.
Watch a video of the Liturgy for the feast:
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