Bucharest, February 7, 2026
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The Romanian Orthodox Church held a solemn ceremony on Friday at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest to proclaim the canonization of 16 holy Romanian women.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel and other members of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the occasion, reports the Basilica News Agency.
The service was broadcast live by Trinitas TV:
Before the beginning of the Liturgy, relics of Sts. Demetrius the New, Constantine and Helen, Nektarios of Aegina, and Catherine the Great Martyr were brought from the Patriarchal Residence and placed in the Shrine of the Saints for veneration.
The formal proclamation of the canonization of the 16 Romanian holy women took place toward the end of the Liturgy.
“The 16 Romanian holy women, canonized in 2025 and proclaimed today at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, are important spiritual landmarks from the historical past of the Romanian Orthodox Church, who show us, as spiritual mothers of the Romanian people, the path that leads to Christ,” Pat. Daniel said.
“They sanctified their lives through humility and love of neighbor, through their strong faith and confessing courage, through patient endurance of afflictions, through ascetic struggles and prayer.”
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church approved the canonization of the 16 women of holy life—including martyrs, monastics, wives of rulers, mothers of saints, and confessors—in July 2025.
Last February, the Romanian Church proclaimed the canonization of 16 holy martyrs, confessors, and ascetics of the 20th century, who had been canonized by Synodal decision the previous July.
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The 16 new saints of the Church are:
- Schemanun Maura of Mount Ceahlău (17th-18th centuries), a great hesychast hermit; feast day on May 4
- Schemanun Nazaria, first abbess of Văratec Monastery—disciple of St. Basil of Poiana Mărului, St. Paisius Velichkovsky of Neamț, and St. Joseph of Văratec; August 17
- Schemanun Olimpiada, founder and benefactor of Văratec Monastery (1757-1842)—disciple of St. Paisius Velichkovsky of Neamț, St. Joseph of Văratec, and Venerable Nazaria of Văratec; August 17
- Schemanun Elisabeta (Safta) Brâncoveanu, resident of Văratec Monastery; August 17
- Blondina Gobjilă (1906-1971), also known as Mama Blondina, a confessor from the communist period who was exiled to Siberia for 15 years; commemorated as Confessor Blondina of Iași on May 24
- Lady Maria Brâncoveanu (†1729), wife of St. Constantine Brâncoveanu; August 16
- Schemanun Filofteia Antonescu from Pasărea Monastery (†1833), mother of St. Calinic of Cernica; April 12
- Nun-Martyr Evloghia Țârlea from Samurcășești Monastery (†1949); December 19
- Schemanun Elisabeta Lazăr from Pasărea Monastery (†2014)
- Nun Platonida (Lady Despina Milița) (†1554), wife of Voivode St. Neagoe Basarab; September 26
- Măndalina (or Magdalena) Milenco (†1962), a worthy and industrious believer of the Romanian community from Mălainița, of the Timoc Vicariate in Serbia; October 15
- Olimpia Tănase (1880-1967), mother of Venerable Petroniu of Prodromu; July 4
- Anastasia Șaguna (1785-1836), mother of Holy Hierarch Andrei Șaguna; December 1
- Nun Filotimia Manolache from Râmeț Monastery (1896-1989), mother of Venerable Dometie the Merciful of Râmeț; July 6
- Nun Antonina Diaconu from Tismana Monastery (1923-2011); December 23
- Nun Matrona Ciupelea, abbess of Hurezi Monastery (1852-1935); May 5
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