Jesus Prayer

Transylvanian Metropolitan says Church is “a school of prayer”

Metropolitan Laurențiu of Transylvania underlined on Sunday the role of the Church in people’s lives, saying that it “is a school of prayer”. The hierarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Ascension of the Lord and Saint Nicholas in Sibiu. In his homily, the Metropolitan of Transylvania explained that Christ’s High Priestly…

May 26, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian women in history: Natalia Manoilescu Dinu proved that women can substantially contribute to theological thought

106 years ago, on March 14, Natalia Manoilescu Dinu was born in Bucharest. Her father, Mihail Manoilescu, made a notable contribution to international economic thought, but her calling was in theology. She followed the spiritual and academic footsteps of Saint Dumitru Stăniloae. As a young woman residing in Bucharest, she concurrently undertook studies in theology…

May 11, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

11 years since the repose of Archim. Roman Braga, confessor of the Jesus Prayer and witness through exile

Wednesday, April 29, marks 11 years since the repose of Archimandrite Roman Braga, the Bessarabian-born confessor who began practising the Jesus Prayer through the Burning Bush spiritual gatherings at Antim Monastery in Bucharest, endured communist imprisonment twice in Romania, and later served the Church in exile. Born in 1922 in Condrița, Bessarabia, Fr Roman entered…

Apr 29, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

80 years since Romania’s ‘Burning Bush’ hesychast movement began

The Library of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has marked 80 years since the official launch of the “Burning Bush” spiritual movement at Antim Monastery in Bucharest, commemorating the anniversary in a social media post. In a petition addressed to Patriarch Nicodim and dated 12 February 1946, several Christian lay intellectuals requested…

Feb 19, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Ambassador highlights St Dumitru Stăniloae hesychast theology at Vatican Conference

Romania’s Ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, George Bologan, delivered a lecture at the Vatican on Wednesday, discussing Romanian hesychast theology and tradition, with particular emphasis on the work of Saint Dumitru Stăniloae. Speaking at a conference organised by the “Carità politica” Association, Ambassador Bologan presented Romanian Orthodox spirituality…

Nov 22, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian hesychast and anti-Communist Confessor Fr. Benedict Ghiuș remembered 35 years after his passing

Archimandrite Benedict Ghiuș, one of the founders of the “Burning Bush” Hesychast Movement, humbly reposed in the Lord on June 12, 1990. Born Vasile Ghiuș in 1904 in Domnești, Vrancea County, he studied at the Faculty of Theology in Cernăuți and later earned his doctorate in Strasbourg, France. In 1934, he embraced monastic life at…

Jun 12, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian children from Belgium discover monastic life and prayer at “Little Hesychast” Camp in Switzerland

Children from the Romanian Orthodox Parish in Antwerp, Belgium, took part last week in the “Little Hesychast” Camp, organized at the “Protection of the Mother of God” Monastery in Switzerland. The camp’s main goal was to bring children and teenagers closer to monastic life and help them learn the Jesus Prayer. The children attended the…

Apr 15, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

140 years since the birth of Father John the Stranger, a key figure in the Burning Bush hesychast movement

One hundred forty years have passed since the birth of Father John the Stranger, a priest who introduced the Jesus Prayer to the Bucharest-based Burning Bush hesychast movement, as he had learned it from the elders of Optina Monastery. “John the Stranger” is the name by which Father Ioann Kulygin, born on February 24, 1885,…

Feb 24, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Saint George the Pilgrim’s Sainthood locally proclaimed at Varatec Monastery

Saint George the Pilgrim’s sainthood was locally proclaimed Friday, August 17, during a ceremony held at Văratec Monastery, where the Saint’s holy relics are enshrined. The Lay-ascetic George Lazar ‘the Pilgrim’ (†1916) was glorified by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church during its working session on October 5, 2017. An additional local proclamation…

Aug 21, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

10 Famous Quotes from His Eminence Archbishop Justinian Chira

1. Prayer has the grace to make the eternal fountain of joy sprinkle our soul. The soul from which springs no voice of prayer unto Heaven is like a deserted house, full of cobweb, inhabited by the birds of darkness alone. A soul that does not know how to pray will never know what happiness…

Nov 1, 2016Aurelian Iftimiu