Rives Junction, Michigan, May 7, 2025
L to R: Abp. Daniel, Met. Tikhon, Abp. Nathaniel, Bp. Andrei. Photo: Romanian Orthodox Episcopate
April 29, marked the 10th anniversary of the repose of Archimandrite Roman (Braga), a confessor of the Romanian communist prisons and missionary to America.
He spent the last four decades of his life in America, serving various parishes, as well as the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, and Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan, both of the Orthodox Church in America’s Romanian Orthodox Episcopate. He served at the latter from 1988 until his repose there in 2015.
In his honor, Holy Dormition Monastery held a memorial weekend on Friday and Saturday, May 2–3, featuring hierarchical liturgical services and a number of talks and reflections on Fr. Roman, reports the Romanian Episcopate.
The event began with the celebration of Vespers and the Akathist to the Mother of God the Burning Bush. Several hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in America were present for the services: the primate His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington, His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit and the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel of Chicago, and His Grace Bishop Andrei of Cleveland, auxiliary bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America.
The service was attended by numerous clergy, monastics, and faithful who shared a spiritual bond with Fr. Roman Braga.
Concerning the Akathist to the Mother of God—the Burning Bush, the Episcopate writes:
[It is] a work of rare theological beauty and spiritual depth, born of suffering and prayer during the time of the spiritual movement known as “Rugul Aprins” (The Burning Bush). This movement (also known as the Group of Antim Monastery) was an association of Christian intellectuals with both a deeply spiritual and cultural-literary identity, active between 1945 and 1958. Formed in the immediate post-war period, it operated under the guidance of remarkable monastic and theological figures during the rise of the communist regime established in 1947. Among its prominent members was Fr. Roman Braga himself.
Photo: Romanian Orthodox Episcopate
The faithful then gathered in the monastery’s conference hall, and Abbess Gabriella (Ursache) offered a welcoming address about the spiritual legacy of Fr. Roman. Next, Archimandrite Joseph (Morris), abbot of St. Gregory Palamas Orthodox Monastery in Perrysville, Ohio, spoke, followed by Mother Christophora, abbess of the Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania—both spiritual disciples of Fr. Roman Braga.
“Their heartfelt testimonies painted a tender portrait of a luminous spiritual father, marked by profound humility, simplicity, and sacrificial love for Christ and His Church.”
Photo: Romanian Orthodox Episcopate
On Saturday morning, Met. Tikhon and the other OCA hierarchs and visiting clergy celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the monastery church, followed by a memorial parastas at Fr. Roman’s grave in the monastery cemetery.
That afternoon, the conference continued with a talk by Abp. Nathaniel, “who emotionally recalled the radiant figure of Fr. Roman, emphasizing his gentleness, wisdom, and formative role in the spiritual life of the faithful in North America.”
Met. Tikhon then spoke on the importance of prayer in the Christian life, “pointing to Fr. Roman as a living example of one who embodied the prayer of the heart and the sanctifying silence of the desert.”
Abp. Daniel reflected on the future of Orthodoxy in North America, “highlighting Fr. Roman’s contribution to pan-Orthodox unity and the preservation of an authentic Orthodox ethos within a pluralistic society.”
Photo: Romanian Orthodox Episcopate
The conference concluded with a heartfelt testimony from Fr. John Konkle, also a disciple of Fr. Roman, “who offered words of gratitude and witness to the spiritual impact the elder had on his own theological and spiritual formation.”
“Through these liturgical and academic gatherings, Archimandrite Roman (Braga) was honored with deep gratitude, and his memory continues to live on in the hearts of all those who knew him and followed his guidance toward the Kingdom of God,” the Episcopate concludes.
Watch a video of the second day of talks:
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