Canonization of Two Bessarabian Saints Proclaimed in Moldova
Patriarch Daniel calls them "beacons of faith in times of communist persecution.”
CHIȘINĂU — The canonization of Saints Iraclie and Alexandru of Bessarabia was locally proclaimed Sunday at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Chișinău, in a service led by Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia with a delegation of hierarchs from Romania and Moldova.
Bishop Veniamin of Southern Bessarabia presented the Synodal Tomos for Saint Venerable Confessor Iraclie, noting, “Saint Iraclie distinguished himself as a great preacher, a skilled spiritual father, and a faithful servant… He engaged in translating spiritually beneficial texts, which he published for the edification of many.”
Bishop Ignatie of Huși read the tomos for Saint Priest-Martyr Alexandru, recalling, “In 1940… Saint Alexandru stood as a pillar of the faith, declaring that he would not allow his flock to be devoured by the red wolves—that is, by the godless communists.”
Archbishop Casian of the Lower Danube, representing His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, delivered a message entitled “Saint Venerable Confessor Iraclie of Bessarabia and Saint Priest-Martyr Alexandru of Bessarabia – Beacons of Faith in Times of Communist Persecution.”
Patriarch Daniel praised the saints as “two shining figures… who fulfilled completely the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.”
Saint Iraclie will be commemorated on August 3 and Saint Alexandru on August 8. The canonization took place in the context of the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate and the Metropolis of Bessarabia.
Previously, UOJ reported that the Romanian Orthodox Church marked a century since it was officially recognized as a Patriarchate by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on July 30, 1925.
