Yesterday, 15 August, the faithful from all over the country participated in the celebration of the dedication day of Putna Monastery, county of Suceava. On this occasion, the painting of the voievodal church was consecrated by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, informs “Lumina” newspaper. The monastic settlement has also received the second dedication day, that of Saint Steven the Great.

Pilgrims from all over the country arrived at Putna Monastery ever since Saturday afternoon, to attend the religious service of the feast of the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God. The faithful entered the first foundation of Saint Steven the Great and prayed at the icons of this place of worship, as well as at the grave of the great voievode.

His Eminence Teofan, Metropolitan of Moldova and Bucovina celebrated the vigil service, assisted by a group of 30 priests and deacons. His Eminence Pimen, Archbishop of Suceava and Radauti, His Eminence Serafim, Archbishop of Ottawa and Canada, and His Grace Emilian Lovisteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Ramnic were also present. To end with, His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan delivered a sermon in which he spoke about the significance of the feast of the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God. Sunday morning, the liturgical programme dedicated to the feast of the day continued with the consecration of the Holy Water, with the Sacrament of the Extreme Unction and the Akathistos of the Mother of God. At 9.00 o’clock a.m., the group of priests went for the priory of Putna Monastery to meet the hierarchs present at this feast. On the steps of the priory, a group of “bucium” (long musical instrument) players played a song typical for the region of Bucovina.

Consecration of the voievodal church

The group of hierarchs made up of His Beatitude Daniel, His Eminence Teofan, His Eminence Pimen, His Eminence Serafim, His Grace Meletie, Bishop of Hotin, His Grace Irineu, Bishop Nijinski and Prilunski, His Grace Corneliu, Bishop of Husi, His Grace Varsanufie Prahoveanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest, His Grace Calinic Botosaneanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Iasi, His Grace Emilian Lovisteanul and His Grace Ioachim Bacauanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacau, together with the priests and deacons present, went for the church of Putna Monastery, where the consecration service of the church painting took place. The Primate of our Church anointed the painting of the holy altar and the altar screen with the Holy Great Myrrh, while the one in the nave, narthex and porch was sealed by the other hierarchs too. In the speech addressed to those present, His Beatitude Daniel emphasized the fact that the consecration of the painting of the Sucevean monastery “was a day of great feast for all the Christians who worship Saint Voievode Steven the Great”.

‘Patriarchal Act’ instituting the second dedication day

Then, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated on a podium specially arranged in the courtyard of the holy place of worship. His Beatitude Daniel was present together with the hierarchs mentioned above, as well as with a group of 70 priests and deacons. His Grace Varsanufie Prahoveanul read the Patriarchal Act instituting the second dedication day of the church of Putna Monastery, the celebration day of Saint Voievode Steven the Great. Then, the troparion of Saint Voievode Steven the Great was performed. His Beatitude Daniel offered the Patriarchal Act to His Eminence Pimen. While the group of hierarchs, priests and deacons were leaving, several groups of faithful and children from Bucovina sang religious chants dedicated to the Mother of God. To end with the service, His Beatitude Daniel awarded the “Steven the Great order for clergy” to Archimandrite Melchiseded Velnic, abbot of Putna Monastery. The medal “Saint Steven the Great” was also awarded to several monks of Putna Monastery, who distinguished themselves in the painting work of the voievodal church.

His Beatitude Daniel also awarded painter Mihail Morosan, Radu Enache, Mr. Florinel Andrei and Corneliu Paraschivescu the “Order of Steven the Great for Laics” and offered a blessing cross for Putna Monastery to Archimandrite Melchisedec Velnic, as well as several books published by Basilica Editorial Office of the Romanian Patriarchate.

Putna, Jerusalem of the Romanian nation

There followed the speech of His Eminence Pimen, who underlined the fact that Putna is the “Jerusalem of the Romanian nation, and the grave of Saint Steven the Great is the altar of the national conscience”. For us, the Romanians, the day of 2 July must be a national day, and Saint Steven the Great is a hero of our whole people. ‘The ‘Patriarchal Act’ deciding the second dedication day of Putna Monastery fulfilled a creed of poet Mihai Eminescu’, said His Eminence Pimen. Further on, archimandrite Melchisedec Velnic referred to the history of Putna Monastery and to how the old place of worship came to be painted.

The Mother of God is the light of the Christians’ life

‘The key needed to understand today’s feast is the line of the Holy Gospel: “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you”, namely blessed is the mother that gave birth to you, fed you and showed you to the world. So we see that the worship of the Mother of God is a blessing. The Saviour establishes a relation between the Mother of God, the Mother that gave birth to Him, and the Church. We understand from the Gospel that the Mother of God is the icon of the spiritual life of the Church. The same as she listened to God-the-Word, internalized Him, gave birth to Him, so are we called to internalize the word of God, make Him fruitful and gave spiritual birth to Him. This is why Maxim the Confessor said that the soul of the Christian is both a virgin and a mother. Virgin, if it remains faithful to God, and spiritual mother is the Christian soul bears the fruit of virtues, namely the spiritual fruits: faith, love, peace, kindness, and mercy. Through these fruits we resemble the Mother of God’, said His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel in his sermon.

Further on, His Beatitude the Patriarch urged all faithful to worship Mother of God and follow her example – the example of humbleness, obedience, faith, and merciful love.

This feast is the greatest of the nine feasts dedicated to the Mother of God in the Orthodox calendar, out of which five are marked with a red cross. It is the day when she passed from the earthly life to the heavenly one. The feast is instituted by the Church not on the bases of the Holy Gospel – the last reference about the presence of the Mother of God is in the Acts, where we are told that the Mother of Jesus was together with the Apostles, and other wives before the Descend of the Holy Spirit – but the Traditon tells us that Virgin Mary fell asleep, namely she passed away with her soul to the eternal life, 11 years after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, to heaven”, added the Patriarch of Romania.

The Patriarch of our Church emphasized the fact that the Mother of God was raised to heaven by Christ, our Saviour “because the body by which God-the-Word became human could not be decayed. The same as during the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, from the Mother of God, her body remained virgin, complete, so during her falling asleep, and her moving to heaven, her body was not decayed.

Saint John Damaskin systemized what the Tradition said and showed that this passing away is not called resurrection or ascension, but movement. It is an existential movement that passes through death, but does not remain in physical death, but it is a gift of God of worshipping the Mother of God towards all saints. We pray the Mother of God to help us in our needs, sufferance, trials, and help us not to lose our way. The Mother of God is the light of the Christians’ life. Let us strengthen our faith, and increase our love for our fellow beings and for the Church, as well as for our country. Let us not forget the country and faith that we received from our parents and help around us.

A great feast for the Romanians from everywhere

The faithful that have come to the feast of Putna Monastery enjoyed the holy religious services, and the solemn moment of the consecration of the painting as well. “We have come on a pilgrimage to pray the Mother of God. We prayed for good health, growth and help. Last night we attended the vigil and today, at 6.00 a.m. o’clock we came again to the monastery to pray. It is a great feast for the Romanians from everywhere and for Putna Monastery too, of which painting was consecrated.

“It is very nice here, at the court of Saint Steven the Great, where we have great piety”, said Marioara Hali from Marginea village, county of Suceava. “This morning we woke up, prayed and them came here, to the holy religious service. We prayed for good health. I leave this place with the joy I could come to this celebration”, said Zamfira Spanu, from Vicovu de Jos, county of Suceava.