Bucharest, April 18, 2025
basilica.ro
The Darvari Skete in Buachrest has received a fragment of the relics of St. Matrona of Moscow, which were placed for veneration following Bridegroom Matins on Holy Tuesday.
According to the abbot, Archimandrite Arsenie (Irimiea), who has a personal connection to St. Matrona, the saint chose the Darvari Skete herself. “A Russian metropolitan, hearing of our devotion to St. Matrona and seeing a photograph of the chapel of the healing saints which included a large canopy with the icon of the saint, was very impressed and offered to give us a fragment of her holy relics,” he told the Basilica News Agency.
“Thus, we believe that St. Matrona herself chose to come here,” said Fr. Arsenie.
But be careful what you ask her for, because she’s known to answer prayers quickly, says the abbot.
Abbot Arsenie. Photo: basilica.ro
Fr. Arsenie had his first encounter with St. Matrona while on pilgrimage to the Holy Protection Monastery in Moscow in 2008.
“It wasn’t an ordinary meeting, but a secret, profound, and personal one. I prayed then before her holy relics, and several requests spoken only in my heart, with emotion and trust, were fulfilled almost immediately. For me it was clear: it was a miracle,” he said
Fr. Arsenie received answers about his path in life, about which monastery to choose—“a discrete but powerful sign that St. Matrona had received me and guided me.”
“Years later, when the question of my establishment at the Darvari Skete, in the heart of Bucharest, arose, I was at a crossroads. From readings of the Desert Fathers, the Philokalia, and the Paterikon, I had formed an image of monastic life as a secluded existence, in hesychasm, far from the hustle and bustle of the world. And I had sincere reservations—how can one truly live a monastic life in the center of a city?” said Fr. Arsenie.
“In that period of turmoil, in the silence of my heart, I felt again the presence of St. Matrona. Not through external words, but through an inner certainty, like a whisper of light: ‘I too lived in the middle of the city. If you settle there, I will come with you.’“
“It was a spiritual, secret promise. It gave me courage. And today, looking back, I see clearly that this promise has been fulfilled.”
“This is, I believe, the secret of her grace: sacrificial love for people. St. Matrona never sought peace for herself. Although blind from birth and suffering, she continuously received people, comforted, advised, and carried the burdens of others,” the abbot explained.
“She never retreated for herself, but burned, like a candle, for her neighbor. Her word had power not from book learning, but from a living, working faith, nourished by the presence of Christ. She lived in the city, but with her heart in Heaven.”
“The fact that a small piece of her holy relics is today at the Darvari Skete is a miracle in itself and a great comfort for all of us. It is as if the saint had kept the promise made then, in secret: ‘I will come with you.’ And behold, she has come,” concluded Fr. Arsenie.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
Source: Orthodox Christianity
