Bucharest, October 27, 2026
basilica.ro
Soldiers who died for Christ now have a feast day of their own in the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The Synaxis of the Holy Military Martyrs was proclaimed and celebrated for the first time yesterday, October 26, honoring saints who confessed the Christian faith while serving in the army and were martyred for it, the Basilica News Agency reports.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church established the commemoration on June 3 of this year, acting on a proposal from His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel. The Synod’s decision also approves the liturgical texts written for the feast.
The feast coincides with that of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrios the Myrrh-Streamer, who’s regarded as the founder of this synaxis.
Twenty military martyrs are commemorated in the synaxis, including the Holy Great Martyr George the Trophy-Bearer, the Holy Great Martyr Demetrios, the Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion, the Holy Great Martyr Procopius, and the Holy Great Martyrs Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratelates.
The Daco-Roman martyrs of the early Christian centuries are also included, among them Sts. Julius the Veteran, Hesychius, Dasius, and the Great Martyr Nicetas.
The synaxarion for the feast says, “Together with these, we honor all military saints, known and unknown, who received the Christian faith, were sanctified by fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel, and courageously confessed Christ even at the price of torments and death.”
The Church of Constantinople has a similar feast, established in 2019 and celebrated on July 8 every year.
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