Sâmbăta de Sus, Brașov County, Romania, August 18, 2025
Photo: Basilica News Agency
Multiple Romanian Orthodox hierarchs and clergy gathered at Brâncoveanu (Sâmbăta de Sus) Monastery in Brașov County on Saturday, August 16, for the local proclamation of the canonization of St. Serafim the Long-Suffering of Sâmbăta de Sus. The ceremony took place following the Divine Liturgy on the feast day of the Brâncoveanu Martyrs.
The day began in the early morning hours with a procession carrying the saint’s relics and placing them for veneration in a canopy in the monastery courtyard. His relics were solemnly uncovered in April.
Photo: Basilica News Agency
Twenty-three hierarchs from throughout Romania and Western Europe served at the feast of Brâncoveanu Monastery at Sâmbăta de Sus, reports the Basilica News Agency.
His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina delivered a teaching, stating that “God finds His rest in the Holy of Holies of every church” and that “the interior of man is also a place of God’s rest.” He noted that according to repeated testimonies from Fr. Teofil Pârâian, St. Serafim was a man in whom God rested.
“The one who brings rest to people is he who through sacrifice gives himself to others,” the Metropolitan of Moldova and Bukovina emphasized. He quoted St. John Chrysostom’s definition of love as “the joy of bringing joy to others” and recalled Fr. Teofil Pârâian’s presentation of St. Serafim as a man who brought joy to people and was himself joyful about all the good around him.
Photo: Basilica News Agency
At the end of the Liturgy, His Grace Bishop Damaschin of Dornei read the Tomos of canonization.
Following the service, His Eminence Metropolitan Laurențiu of Transylvania stated that “a church that doesn’t produce saints doesn’t bear fruit.” He explained that the canonization of a saint isn’t a human work but is ordained by God through His gifts working through the personality who receives veneration and devotion from the faithful.
The Metropolitan of Transylvania noted that this is God’s work, sent at the appropriate time first to the Romanian nation, as now, at the 100th anniversary of the Patriarchate, 16 great personalities have become intercessors and examples for all.
Photo: Basilica News Agency
Archimandrite Atanasie Roman, abbot of Brâncoveanu Monastery at Sâmbăta de Sus, spoke about Transylvanian monasticism, citing Nicolae Iorga’s 1902 statement that Transylvania’s history was “a history of villages and priests.”
He emphasized that the entire chain of monasteries at the foot of the Carpathians expresses the missionary zeal of Transylvanian monasticism, which has been with the life of the people from its beginnings, inspiring their spiritual and cultural life while maintaining its hesychast character.
Background and Continuing Celebrations
St. Serafim the Long-Suffering of Sâmbăta de Sus was proclaimed a saint for the entire Romanian Patriarchate on February 4, at the Patriarchal Cathedral, together with 15 other contemporary monastic saints and confessors canonized on the occasion of the Romanian Patriarchate’s Centenary.
The program of events at Brâncoveanu Monastery dedicated to the local proclamation of the saint’s canonization continued Saturday at 5:00 PM with Vespers, followed by a Vigil in honor of the saint.
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