Iași, Romania, October 13, 2025
The relics of St. Gregory Palamas have left Greece for the first time in history, brought to Iași, Romania, for the annual St. Parascheva pilgrimage. A delegation from Thessaloniki, led by Metropolitan Philotheos of Thessaloniki, brought the relics to Iași on Saturday night.
The Greek clergy were received by His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina, along with members of the diocesan administration and local authorities. The delegation then proceeded to the Metropolitan cathedral, where a fragment of the holy hierarch’s relics was placed for veneration next to the reliquary of St. Parascheva, reports the Basilica News Agency.
Following a service of thanksgiving, Met. Theofan noted that the saint was “a great defender of the Orthodox faith, a great ascetic for many years on Holy Mount Athos.”
“St. Gregory Palamas greatly influenced, through his disciples, monastic life in the territories inhabited by Romanians. First in the southern region, in Oltenia, through St. Nicodim of Tismana, then in Transylvania, and of course, here in Moldavia,” Metropolitan Teofan added.
His Eminence thanked Metropolitan Philotheos of Thessaloniki and the entire Greek delegation, which will remain until the end of the pilgrimage.
Metropolitan Philotheos thanked the Romanian Church for the invitation to participate in the St. Parascheva pilgrimage in Iași, describing it as “proof of the love in Christ that sister Churches have for one another, in the name of Christ.”
“It’s a moving, striking image … a great multitude of people, of faithful who wait during the night and in not entirely suitable weather conditions, for many hours, to venerate the relics of St. Parascheva.”
On Sunday, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași by Metropolitan Philotheos of Thessaloniki and Vicar Bishop Nichifor of Botoșani of the Archdiocese of Iași.
On Sunday evening, at 7:00 PM, the traditional Path of the Saints procession took place through the streets of the city center.
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, and this year the Romanian faithful have the opportunity to venerate the relics of the great Holy Hierarch and theologian St. Gregory Palamas.
The St. Parascheva pilgrimage began on October 8 and runs through October 15. 24,500 pilgrims came to venerate her relics just on the first day.
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