The monastery began construction on the outdoor altar in the summer of 2022. It is dedicated to Sts. Paisie and Cleopa of Sihăstria, who were canonized during the Romanian Patriarchate’s Centennial, and to St. Irodion of Lainici.
St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Pro-Life Society, a nonprofit organization, regularly holds prayer vigils outside abortion facilities in New York City, at least once a month.
The newly canonized saint served as abbot of Tismana Monastery before his arrest and imprisonment under the communist regime.
The appeal comes days after reports that VP Vance confronted Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople about the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which he has been silent about.
The new abbot referenced St. John of the Ladder, whose spiritual work compares religious life to “a ladder from earth to Heaven, where Christ awaits.”