Saint Constantin Brancoveanu
In the history of the Romanian people, the rule of the saint and Voivode of Wallachia, Constantin Brancoveanu (ruled from 29 October/8 November 1688 – April 1714, died 15 August 1714), was marked by important social, political, cultural and economical changes, representing a foundation stone for our confessional faith and culture.
Saint Constantin Brancoveanu was born in 1654, son of Matei and Stanca Brancoveanu (sister of ruler Serban Cantacuzino). His father died when he was one year old, so, he and his brothers, Barbu and Matei, were raised by their paternal grandmother, Pauna Greceanu, at the Brancoveni estate owned by the high steward, Constantin Cantacuzino. There, he learned Greek, Latin and Slavic, received great education from great tutors and clerics that will show itself in the future through founding of churches, printing presses, schools as well as through his links with great personalities of his time.
Constantin Brancoveanu’s ascension as ruler, represented a high socio-political moment in the affirmation of this great boyar family that was also marked by tragic events. His father, Papa Brancoveanu lost his life when he was killed by members of his army corps (Seimeni), in 1655, near the Bucharest Mitropoly, while minister (vornic) Preda Brancoveanu, his grandfather, was killed at Targoviste under the order of Mihnea III, in 1658 [1].
It was in 1674 when Constantin Brancoveanu married Marica (Maria), daughter of seneschal Neagoe from Negoiesti and granddaughter of Antonie-Voda from Popesti, ruler of Walachia between 1669 and 1672. The Brancoveanu family was blessed by God with eleven children: Stanca, Maria, Ilinca, Constantin, Stefan, Safta, Radu, Ancuta, Balasa, Smaranda and Matei. Eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, who were raised by hard working, generous and wise parents. Lady Maria Brancoveanu proved to be a woman of courage and faith, dedicated to the Church and to her People, being a fine example for any Christian family to follow in the Christian education of children, the steadfast confession of Orthodoxy and in the advancement of Christian culture.
Constantin Brancoveanu, as nephew of Serban Cantacuzino (January 1679 – 29 October / 8 November 1688) held many administrative and political positions, which he fulfilled with great diplomatic ability, that would have made his famous uncle proud. At the age of 25 he becomes a great leader and after nine years he became a great chancellor of Walachia. After the death of his uncle, at the interventions of the Cantacuzino boyers and after paying a hefty sum of money to the Turkish leadership, Constantin Brancoveanu, as chosen by the country’s boyars, is recognised as the ruler of Walachia on 29th of October 1688. After receiving the leadership caftan from Istanbul, the Metropolitan of Walachia, Teodosie, together with the Patriarch of Constantinopol, Dionisie the 3rd, anointed, in Bucharest, the new voievod (prince) of Ungrovlahia. This is how the Brancoveanu reign began, an important one for Orthodox Christianity and especially for Walachia, found at the crossroads between the Ottoman, Habsburg and Russian interests.
Martyr Saint voivode Constantin Brancoveanu worked for the unity of the Romanian people despite these being divided into three great and distinct provinces. He was an educated leader and a promotor of education and culture, supporting the printing of numerous valuable cultural, theological and lay works, so much so, that during his rule, the intense and multidirectional cultural development turned Bucharest into a significant spiritual and cultural centre in south-east Europe and him into a great supporter of culture within the Romanian territories. His reign was considered “a cultural monarchy” (N. Iorga).
Through his foundations and donations, he strengthened south-Danubian Orthodoxy that was under Islamo-Ottoman persecution, but also the Orthodoxy in Ardeal that was under Catholic and Protestant attacks [2]. Martyr Saint voivode Brancoveanu was a great founder of monasteries and churches, building new ones and renovating or endowing older ones in Walachia and Transilvania. At the same time, Saint Constantin Brancoveanu was very generous towards the whole eastern Christian Orthodox community found under Ottoman rule, through financial and material donations towards the Patriarchates of Constantinopol, Alexandria, Antiohia, Jerusalem, the Georgian Church and many Churches and monasteries in Mount Athos. Through this care he showed a lot of generosity, reverence and dignity, remaining over time a living example for Christian leaders and for supporters of Christian culture. There are historical testimonies that show that Patriarchs of Constantinopole and especially of Jerusalem and Antiochia were often hosted at the court of Saint voivode Constantin Brancoveanu, who alongside other forms of assistance, would print church books in their language, among which, the first printed book in Arabic (Greco-Arab Liturgy book at Snagov Monastery in 1701). This care for the Holy Orthodox Church, made him a great missionary, a devout and generous Christian leader.
Politically, Brancoveanu initiates diplomatic negotiations and builds up personal relationships with important contemporary leaders [3]. He knew how to serve the Turks without compromising his country’s rights, being a Christian leader, “responsible for the peace, defence, the good administration of his country [4], the tranquil life of his people, the education of children, the rule of law, helping the poor and other good deeds becoming of a true leader [5]. Also, he founded twenty-four churches in Walachia; he founded the Royal Academy (1694), The Coltea Monastery school (beginning of XVIII century), the painter’s school from Hurezi Monastery, the Royal Slavonic school from the church, “St George the Old”; with the help of a few cunning hierarchs, like St Hierarch Antim Ivireanu, he set up printing presses (Bucharest, Targoviste, Snagov, Ramnic); he printed over 84 books in 96 volumes, in 5000 copies , using bilingual texts, printing religious books, theology, Holy Fathers, school books, historical books, apologetics and books in foreign languages. He organised libraries, like the one at Horezi Monastery with four hundred volumes on all subjects and and in different languages. He was supportive of Christians from other territories offering a printing press, as well as books, to Christians in Syria (Alep), as well as supporting Orthodox Romanians in Transilvania in their fight against the Uniate Church and the Catholic proselytism.
He also pushed against the Slavonic and Greek currents present not only in the Church, but also at the royal courts. Furthermore, representative for him is the greatness of the Brancovenean art that embraces all artistic manifestations: architecture, painting, sculpture, silver works, embroidery, manuscripts with miniature drawings, iconography, engravings, Church furniture but also civil architecture like palaces, royal houses, mansions with all their details [6]. He hosted Patriarch Dositei and Patriarch Hrisant Notara and had connections with Metropolitans Clement of Adrianople, Anania of Synai, Dionisie of Tarnovo, Maxim of Ierapoleos and Mitrofan of Nisis; he helped the Holy Land monasteries, the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria; he introduced the printing press into the Arab and Georgian cultures with great influence on the Christian East.
Beyond the aspects of the personality and essence of the Romanian leader, his great vocation was that of a founder, as explained by Metropolitan Bartolomeu Anania: “Brancoveanu’s martyrdom crowns the life of a creator. He did not have the vocation of martyrdom (in reality, martyrdom is not a vocation, it is an assumed destiny), but he possessed a great vocation of a founder, the fruits of which we can see even today, seeded over nearly half of Romania, from Mehedinti to Ramnicu Sarat and from Fagaras to Campia Dunarii. It’s sufficient to make a stop at Hurezi to realise the grandness and greatness of the Brancoveanian genius” [7]. Among the saints that sprung up in our country, Constantin Brancoveanu has a special place. His example remains forever alive for the Romanian who is often unstable in his ancient faith. His sacrifice reinvigorated the national spirit and gave strength to faith in our Church; he, being the martyr par excellence for the Romanian people. The value of his cultural masterpiece, his love and attachment to the Christian values of the Wallachian Church is a strong example for future generations.
Pr. Dr Ciobanu Constantin, St Appostles Peter and Paul parish, Iasi, Deanery II Iasi)
(sursa-doxologia.ro)
[1] Stefan Ionescu, the Brancovean epoch. Political dimensions. Cultural finality, Dacia Press, Clij-Napoca, 1981, p.12.
[2] Ibidem, p. 7
[3] Pr. Prof. Ion Ionescu, the passion of the righteous voivode Constantin Brancoveanu, in Romanian saints and defenders of the ancestral law, Ed. Bible and Mission Institute of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, 1987, p. 620.
[4] Nicolae Iorga, The Political Value of Constantin Brancoveanu, Valenii de Munte, 1914, p. 51.
[5] Gherasim, The Archbishop of Ramnic, the life of martyr saint Constantin-Voda Brancoveanu and his co-sufferers, 2nd edition, Saint Antim Ivireanu Press, Ramnicu-Valcea, 2014, p. 7.
[6] G. Popescu Vilcea, Initiator and Protector of a new style in Romanian Art: Brancoveanu style, in “B.O.R”, nr. 9-10/1964, p. 901.
[7] Apud Prof. Ioana Ionescu, Constantin Brancoveanu – a martyr among Romanian rulers, “Lumina” newspaper, 23 March 2014.
Saint Sabine
Martyr Saint Sabine was born in Rome towards the end of the first century, being the daughter of a rich mining magnate named Herodes.
She had a pure and righteous upbringing, learning from a very young age the most virtuous teachings. At the proper time, her parents married her off to a young noble Roman senator named Valentin.
Widowed at a very young age, Sabine decided not to remarry but to live the rest of her life in celibacy. Living her life in her luxurious palace Aventino, where her church stands today, Sabine bought a virgin Christian slave-girl named Serapia originally from Antioch in Syria. For a long time, Sabine, persecuted her servant with never-ending criticisms and overwhelming her with exhausting physical tasks. Serapia, as a true follower of Christ, tolerated everything with joy and meekness, endeavouring to serve her master well. Noticing Serapia’s meekness and ongoing patience, Sabine asked her how she can endure without protest, without crying and without any sign of sadness on her face.
Then Serapia confessed that she was a Christian and that the Lord Jesus Christ who accepted the suffering on the Cross, strengthens her during all hardships, defamations and heavy workloads. Her words, full of love, turned Sabine’s heart towards good and towards learning as much as possible about Jesus Christ and in the end, even accepted the Holy Baptism. Under the advice of her now friend Serapia, they decided to move together to one of Sabine’s properties in the region of Umbria, living a life of retreat in work and prayer, preaching the true faith to all the women and widows in that land.
Soon after, the local prefect named Berilo, found out about these women’s meetings and although initially he did not give them too much importance, once he realised that at these meetings Serapia and Sabina preached the Christian faith, he ordered that they be caught and brought for judgement. When Sabine saw the soldiers arrive at the gates of her property, she sent her slaves to close them, but as Serapia begged Sabine not to put herself in danger for her, they opened the gates and the soldiers entered and arrested Serapia. Indignant, Sabine ordered to have her carriage readied and she presented herself in front of Prefect Barilo who was impressed by the nobility, wealth and dignity of the strong Lady Sabina, was afraid to begin any action against a Patrician, so he freed Serapia back to her master. However, after three days, when Sabine was away, Berilo arrested Serapia again. Refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods, Serapia was tortured, hit with thick rods, her body was burned with flames and as she remained unaffected by these, they beheaded her near Faustino’s arch on the 28th of July.
When Sabine found out about Serapia’s death, she collected her holy relics, embalmed them with fragranced oils and buried them with great reverence in the tomb that she prepared for herself in the Vindiciano cemetery, near Aventino. Confessing forthrightly her faith in Christ, Sabine continued to preach the Lord strongly alongside charitable works towards the Christians from the catacombs of Rome, caring for the poor, visiting the sick and penetrating all the way to the most infamous places to bring optimism and hope to everyone.
Her daring attitude attracted the attention of the new local prefect, Elpidio, who sent for her to be arrested and brought to him for judgement. He threatened her and ordered her to renounce her Christian practice and bring sacrifice to the idols. As she remained strong in her confession of Christ the Saviour, the prefect ordered to confiscate Sabine’s properties and behead her in public at Faustino’s arch, the same place where Serapia was martyred. She died on 29th of August 126 AD.
Saint Longinus
Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His great mercy, saw fit to save us from perdition, through His voluntary sacrifice on the Cross, death and resurrection, offering Himself to suffering, wounding Himself for our sins.
At that time, a centurion named Longinus, originally from Cappadocia, under the servitude of Pilate, was given the responsibility, together with his soldiers, to oversee Christ’s suffering and crucifixion. Seeing the wonders performed by Christ, namely the earthquake, the darkening of the sun, the open graves, the dead coming to life and the stones cracking open, he made a declaration of faith that Christ is the Son of God, as is written in Matthew: “So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
About Longinus, the centurion, some say that he was the one who pierced with a spear the side of our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the Cross, and from the blood and water that came out he obtained healing for his sick eyes. Then, after Christ’s life-giving body was buried, Longinus and his soldiers were given the responsibility by Pilate to guard His tomb. When the Lord was resurrected, the guards became scared after God’s angel moved the rock from the entrance of the tomb and out of fear, they fell in a dead-like state.
Then, Longinus and two of his soldiers believed in Christ and became preachers of His resurrection confessing to Pilat and the Hierarchs everything that happened. The Hierarchs organised a meeting with the elders and decided to pay off the guards with silver if they hide Christ’s resurrection and to say, “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.” Longinus did not take the payment and refused to hide the miracle and he confessed it and his confession was true. For this, Pilat and the Jewish synod hated Longinus and all the hatred they harboured against Christ, now turned against Longinus because he preached to everyone that Christ was the true God, whose life-giving death and resurrection he saw with his own eyes. The haters, tried to find the right time and a good reason to destroy him because he was confessing Jesus Christ, but could not find either because Longinus being older and more righteous than them all, was well known to Caesar.
Upon receiving information about their evil plan, he preferred to die for Christ rather than to live in the Jewish quarters. He quit his job and gave up his uniform and together with his two like-minded in Christ friends, they departed from society and lived in contemplation of the true God. They received Baptism from the Holy Apostles and soon after left Jerusalem and settled in Cappadocia. There, Longinus became a preacher and apostle of Christ and brought many lost lives to God. Later, he returned to his father’s village living in prayer and fasting.
The Jewish community in Jerusalem was informed that Longinus filled the whole of Cappadocia with his teachings and his experienced confession about Christ’s resurrection. So, the Hierarchs and the Elders filled with hatred and jealousy, went to Pilat with many gifts and begged him to send word to Caesar in Rome against Longinus, that he quit his position in the army, drifted from Roman rule, causing turbulence among the people of Cappadocia preaching a new king. Pilat, took the gifts and accepted their request and sent a letter against Longinus to Caesar Tiberius. Along with this letter, the Jews, sent a lot of gold to Caesar as payment for Longinus’s death. Soon, an order came from Caesar to kill Longinus as an opponent of Caesar. So, Pilat sent soldiers to Cappadocia to behead Longinus and then to bring him to Jerusalem to prove his death to the Jews. At the request of the God hating Jewish Synod, Pilat also ordered the death of the other two deserters, friends of Longinus, who alongside him were also preaching Christ.
As Pilate’s men arrived in Cappadocia, they began asking about Longinus. Upon receiving information that he lives in his parent’s village, they started in that direction in great secrecy, looking for Longinus but faking reverence for him, as not to scare him away and lose him, which would mean a shameful return to their master. This is how they were trying to take him by surprise. But, Saint Longinus, filled with God’s Spirit, knew what was going to happen, including the martyrdom prepared for him, and came out to greet them himself. Seeing them, he offered only words full of love, but as they did not recognise him, they asked, “Where is Longinus that used to be a soldier?” Then Longinus asked them, “What do you need from him?” The soldiers answered, “We heard that he is a good man and we want to talk to him; we are soldiers and he was a centurion, so we want to see him.” Longinus said to them, “I beg you my masters, stay and rest a while in my home, I know where he lives, and he will come to you because he does not live far.” And they stayed with him. Longinus prepared a rich meal for them and, in the evening, after the guests had their fill of wine, they revealed to Longinus the reason for their visit, not before swearing them to secrecy to prevent Longinus’s escape. Then they told him, “We were sent to behead him and his two friends as ordered by Caesar to Pilate. Hearing that they also want to kill his friends, Longinus sent for them and did not reveal to the soldiers that he was Longinus before his friends arrived.
As the soldiers fell asleep, Longinus prayed to God all night, in preparation for his death. The next day, the soldiers wanted to be on their way and asked Longinus to present to them the one they were looking for. Longinus said to them, “wait a little my masters, because I have sent for him and he will come to you soon. And believe me that the one you seek, will give himself up, just wait and see.” When he realised that his friends are coming, he came out to receive them, embrace them and said, ”Be joyful, servants of Christ and my friends, your happiness is close; the time has come for us to be unshackled from our ties to the flesh. Because we will now stand together before our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we saw go through His passion, crucifixion, burial and resurrection in glory. It is Him that we will see sit to the right side of God and we will have our fill seeing His glory.” Then Longinus told his friends about the reason for the soldiers’ visit from Pilate and the Jewish synod: to kill them for confessing Christ’s resurrection. Upon hearing this, they rejoiced for being chosen to be martyrs that will soon stand before their Lord that they love from the depth of their soul. Then, going together to the soldiers, he said: “Here you have Longinus and his two friends because I am Longinus that you are searching for and these are my two friends, and together we saw Christ’s resurrection and we believed. Therefore, do to us as you have been ordered by those who sent you.”
Upon hearing this, the soldiers felt ashamed and momentarily refused to believe that this was Longinus. Once they realised that it was him, they continued to feel ashamed and refused to kill their host. Longinus insisted that they carry out their order saying, “You cannot reward me more for the love I have shown you, other than to send me quickly to my Lord whom I long to see.”
Then he put on white funeral garments, and pointing towards a nearby hill, he ordered his house keepers to burry him and his friends up on that hill. With prayers and giving the last embrace to everyone around, they bowed their heads under the sword, the soldiers beheaded them, took Longinus’s head, and left. His house keepers buried the bodies of the saints with great reverence on the hill, while his holy head was taken by the soldiers to Jerusalem as proof to Pilate and the Jews that Longinus was dead. Upon seeing the saint’s head, Pilate and the Jews ordered to throw it in the garbage dump, outside of the city. The Lord, who protects all the bones of His saints, also protected Longinus’s head in the garbage dump, and when He decided to glorify his servant on Earth before men as He glorified it in heaven before angels, He uncovered the Saint’s head in the following way: A blind widow from Cappadocia has been unsuccessfully looking for treatment for her blindness among doctors for a long time. So, she decided to go to Jerusalem to worship at the holy places seeking God’s help for her blindness. Her first-born son went with her as a guide, but a few days after arriving at the holy places, he became ill and died. The widow mourned her double blindness; her own and her son, who was the light of her eyes. Crying unconsolably and lamenting with terrible grief, she had a vision of Saint Longinus coming to console her promising to show her son in the glory of heaven and to give her sight back. He told her everything about himself; about his presence at the passion, the crucifixion, the burial and at the resurrection of Christ. Also, about his preaching of Christ in Cappadocia and his and his friends’ martyrdom for Him. He instructed her to go outside the walls of the city to find his head among the garbage, adding, “This was prepared for you for your healing.” Finding some consolation in her tragedy, she was led outside of the city, begging those who were helping her, “Take me where you see the greatest amount of garbage.” And so, it was done; they took her where they saw the greatest amount of garbage and she started digging through it with her hands. Although she could not see anything, she had great faith in the words of the saint who spoke to her in her vision. Due to God’s providence, she found what she was looking for. Suddenly, she saw the light of the sun, as her eyes opened, and she saw the saints head among the garbage. She rejoiced more for finding the saint’s head, her healer, than for regaining her vision. She glorified God while honouring His servant, Saint Longinus. After recovering his head and kissing it, she took it with great joy to the house where she was lodging, and after she washed it she anointed it with fragranced oils. She rejoiced so much about her treasure that she forgot her grief for her dead son.
The next evening, Saint Longinus showed himself in great light, bringing her son to her shining in wedding garments and embracing him with parental love, he said to the widow, “See the one that you mourn for? See your son woman; see the glory and honour he exists in; see and find comfort in it, because God counts him in the heavenly company in His kingdom; and I took him from the Saviour, and he will never part from me. Take my head and the body of your son and place them in a coffin. Stop mourning your son and stop troubling your heart, because your son received great glory and never-ending joy from God.
The women quickly placed the martyr’s head and her son’s body in a coffin and returned to her home, glorifying and praising the Lord. After arriving in her land, she buried the head of the martyr alongside the body of her son, saying, “Now I know that success comes to all who love God. I was seeking bodily sight and I also found spiritual sight. I was devastated for the death of my son, and now I have him in heaven standing in glory before God with the prophets, the martyrs and with Longinus, with whom he always rejoices, in Christ’s kingdom, carrying among angels the Cross, the sign of victory. As Longinus’s disciple, with the same voice, sings with joy: “Truly, this was the Son of God, is and will always be. His kingdom is the kingdom of all time and His dominion among all peoples, whose glory is forever.” Amen. (from “The Lives of the Saints”).