Manifestările aniversare „Serbarea de la Putna – 150. Continuitatea unui ideal

The year 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of the first Celebration of Romanians Everywhere and the first Congress of Romanian Students Everywhere, held at Putna on 15-16 August 1871. The celebrations at the time, which took place at Putna Monastery in 1871, on the patronal feast – the Dormition of the Theotokos –, was a milestone in asserting Romanian identity and the national ideal in the aftermath of the 1859 Union. 150 years after that event, wishing to honour the ancestors and to continue on their path, at Putna Monastery an initiative committee made up of representatives of the students’ associations, youth, and Romanian cultural and spiritual circles, planned this anniversary in terms of continuing the pursuit of an ideal: The Celebration of Putna – 150. The continuity of an ideal. The events dedicated to this anniversary were attended by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, Mr Ioan Aurel Pop, President of the Romanian Academy, hierarchs of the Holy Synod, representatives of the local authorities, as well as numerous clergy members and faithful of our Church. On 15 August 2021, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel celebrated the Holy Liturgy alongside a synaxis of bishops, priests and deacons. After the Holy Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel consecrated the silver vigil lamp brought by the Romanian students from Romania and abroad, and Mr Ioan Aurel Pop, President of the Romanian Academy, delivered a speech entitled „Let our motherland be our faith” on the Celebration of 1871. To conclude the events of 15 August, the Monastery’s abbot, archimandrite Melchisedec Velnic, thanked His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel for the joy he had brought by taking part in the celebrations of the patronal feast and the commemorative event. The reverend abbot also thanked the concelebrant clergy members, the guests, the officials and pilgrims, and especially the students who had taken part in the organizational work. On Monday, 16 August 2021, the feast of the Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs, after the Holy Liturgy, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel alongside a synaxis of bishops, priests and deacons, officiated the memorial service (panikhida) for the founders of Putna Monastery and the authors of the 1871 Celebration of Putna. For the pahikhida, the monastery prepared a list of the participants and supporters of the 1871 Celebration, based on documents and the publications dating from 1870–1871. Then His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel attended the prize awarding for the contests „The Celeb