Patriarch Daniel will lead the canonization ceremony of the Putna Saints

Aurelian Iftimiu – Basilica News Agency – May 2017

The solemn canonization ceremony of the Putna Saints: St Jacob, Metropolitan of Moldova, and the Venerable Fathers Silas, Paisios and Nathan will take place Sunday, 14 May 2017, at Putna Monastery. His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, will lead the ceremony.

The delegation of the Romanian Patriarchate will arrive at Putna on Saturday, May 13. The following day, His Beatitude will preside over the Divine Liturgy and the ceremony during which the canonization of the Putna Saints will be officially proclaimed.

Their canonization was earlier proposed by the Archdiocese of Suceava and Rădăuți and approved by a session of the Metropolitan Synod of Moldova and Bukovina on May 20, 2016, at Neamţ Monastery.

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church announced last year on June 6 that Hierarch Jacob of Putna, Metropolitan of Moldova, and the Venerable Fathers Silas, Paisios and Nathan of Sihăstria Putnei Monastery were to be added to the calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Program of the Canonization Ceremony

Saturday – May 13

13.00 – Arrival of official delegation led by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania.

18.00 – Memorial Service for Metropolitan Jacob of Putna and for the Venerable Fathers Silas, Paisios and Nathan (Last Panikhida);

19.00 – All-night Vigil;

Sunday – May 14

9.30 – Divine Liturgy presided over by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, in the concelebration of hierarchs, priests and deacons.

Solemn canonization ceremony of the Putna Saints: reading out of the canonization tomoses, presentation of the icons of the saints, veneration of the holy relics și chanting of troparia.

At the end of the ceremony, all faithful will be able to bow down before the holy relics of the Putna Saints, which will be placed in a baldachin near the Princely Church of the Monastery.

13.30 – Poetry recital and musical concert „At the Putna of St Stephen and St Jacob” performed by studends from Ion Nistor College in Vicovu de Sus, conducted by prof. Vasile Schipor;

16.00 – Opening of the exposition “Metropolitan Saint Jacob of Putna. Father, Founder, Scholar” at the Museum of the Putna Monastery;

19.00 – All-night Vigil for Metropolitan Saint Jacob of Putna, at Putna Monastery;

Monday – May 15

9.30 – Divine Liturgy on the Feast Day of Metropolitan Saint Jacob of Putna, at Putna Monastery;

17.00 – Procession of the Saints – in the sound of the bells:

The two reliquaries containing holy relics will be carried in procession from Putna Monastery to Sihăstria Putnei Monastery. The reliquaries will be placed in an outdoor altar next to the Annunciation Church.

19.00 – All-night Vigil for the Holy Venerable Fathers Silas, Paisios and Nathan at Sihăstria Putnei Monastery;

Tuesday – May 16

9.30 – Divine Liturgy on the Feast Day of the Holy Venerable Fathers Silas, Paisios and Nathan, at Sihăstria Putnei Monastery.

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Metropolitan Jacob (1719-1778) was the most distinguished bishop and pastor of the Moldovan Church of the eighteenth century. In 1731, he was tonsured a monk at Putna Monastery, being elected abbot in 1744. He served as Bishop of Radauti from 1745 to 1750, and as Metropolitan of Moldova from 1750 to 1760. During his pastorship he laboured tirelessly to increase the spiritual level of his flock, printing spiritual literature for all ages and establishing spiritual schools. In 1760, he retired again into monastic simplicity for the remaining eighteen years of his life.

The Holy Fathers Silas, Paisios and Nathan lived in the eighteenth century and laboured at Sihăstria Putnei Monastery during a time of great spiritual flowering. Burning with love for God and silent prayerful contemplation, St Silas served as abbot from 1753 to 1781 and oversaw the founding of the Church of the Annunciation; St Nathan served from 1781 to 1784 during a time when many monasteries of the region were being abolished; and St Paisios, a spiritual child of St Nathan, laboured as a fervent defender of Orthodoxy and clairvoyant guide for countless souls, falling asleep on 16 December 1784.

Their fragrant relics were discovered in 1990 during restoration work at Sihăstria Putnei, two hundred years after the monastery had been abolished. Until today they prayerfully protect the inhabitants and pilgrims of their monastery through the grace of their relics, and have long been considered saints of God.

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