On 15 August, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church consecrated the painting of Putna Monastery and decided, together with His Eminence Pimen, Archbishop of Suceava and Radauti, that Putna Monastery should have one more dedication day, that of Saint Voievode Steven the Great, informs “Lumina” newspaper. We render below the text of the Patriarchal Act that His Grace Varsanufie Prahoveanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest read during the Divine Liturgy that His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel celebrated at Putna Monastery assisted by a group of hierarchs, priests and deacons:

Patriarchal Act

Taking into account that having been ranked among the saints, the founder of this monastery has become Saint Voievode Steven the Great, that the grave of Saint Voievode Steven the Great is a place of pilgrimage, worship, prayer and a symbol of the church national unity, and seeing that since his canonization in 1992 till now, many faithful have gathered at Putna Monastery, in order to pray at his grave, and that the church where his grave is has been bedecked with beautiful paintings executed in fresco, after over 350 years since it had no more painting as a result of its re-building by rulers Vasile Lupu and Gheorghe Stefan, today, 15 August 2010, on the occasion of the historical dedication day of the monastery, the feast of the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God, we decide, together with His Eminence Pimen, Archbishop of Suceava and Radauti, the local hierarch: from now on, the celebration day of Saint Voievode Steven the Great, 2 July, every year, becomes the second dedication day of this monastery, for the glory of God, the worshipping of the Saint Voievode, founder of this monastery, and for the joy of the faithful pilgrims from Romania and abroad. This decision will be announced to the clergy and faithful of the Holy Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti, as well as to the clergy and faithful of the whole of the Romanian Patriarchate.

† Daniel,

Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrudgea, Locum Tenens of the Throne of Caesarea of Cappadochia and Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church