Tismana, Gorj County, Romania, September 23, 2025
Photo: basilica.ro
The Romanian Orthodox Church celebrated the local proclamation of the canonization of St. Gherasim (Iscu) of Tismana on Sunday, September 21, at Tismana Monastery in Gorj County.
His Eminence Metropolitan Irineu of Oltenia presided over the Divine Liturgy and proclamation ceremony, concelebrated by bishops from across Romania and abroad. Met. Irineu told the faithful that “the face of a holy man is the face of God,” reports the Basilica News Agency.
The newly canonized saint served as abbot of Tismana Monastery before his arrest and imprisonment under the communist regime.
“Paradoxically and even unimaginably, this saint, who loved everyone and welcomed everyone, was considered an enemy of the people,” Met. Irineu said during his homily. He explained that St. Gherasim was deemed an enemy of “an ideology without God” and “a project that fights against the Cross of our Savior Christ.”
The Metropolitan recalled that St. Gherasim was stripped of his name in prison and given only a number, yet “he conquered the world, because he is the only true man in a society that did not accept him, that despised him.”
Photo: basilica.ro
Met. Irineu recounted how Protestant pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned alongside the saint, testified that he had seen “the face of a saved man.” The saint not only forgave those who tortured him but went to comfort one of them, assuring him of God’s forgiveness and promising him Paradise.
Following the Metropolitan’s address, His Grace Bishop Nicodim of Severin and Strehaia read the tomos of canonization.
A special delegation of faithful from Poduri, Bacău County—St. Gherasim’s birthplace—attended the celebration along with their mayor, Diana Narcisa Miclăuș.
Metropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe delivered the liturgical homily, explaining the meaning of taking up the Cross and following Christ.
St. Gherasim (Iscu) of Tismana was among 16 confessors, martyrs, and spiritual fathers canonized by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in July 2024. The general proclamation of their canonization took place in Bucharest in February of this year, followed by local proclamations throughout the year in the dioceses where these saints lived and ministered. Last week, the Church celebrated the local proclamation of St. Sofian (Boghiu) of Antim.
The Divine Liturgy and local proclamation ceremony were broadcast live on Radio Trinitas and Trinitas TV, including on Facebook and YouTube platforms:
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St. Gherasim was born in the Poduri commune on January 21, 1912.
At the age of 12, he entered Bogdana Monastery as a novice. He also studied at the monastic seminaries at the Neamț and Cernica Monasteries, and completed higher studies at the Theological Faculty in Bucharest. He knew seven foreign languages.
He was tonsured into monasticism at Tismana Monastery and became abbot of Arnota Monastery at the tender age of 25. He was later sent on a mission to Transnistria, and upon his return, he became abbot of Tismana in a very troubled time, taking over the holy habitation after it had been used as a camp for Legionnaires’ prisoners and suffered a serious fire in 1942.
He was arrested on September 26, 1948, and spent time in several camps. After severe suffering, he fell ill and reposed in the Lord on December 25, 1951.
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