The Celebration of Saint Hierarch Nifon in Târgoviște

A prominent personality of the Romanian and universal Orthodoxy, the Holy Hierarch Nifon was the first saint canonized on Romanian soil. At Dealu Monastery it is preserved a small part of the relics of the saint, as well as a large icon of it, made in the style of the early nineteenth century.

Nifon II – The Metropolitan was of Greek descent from the Peloponnese and was a monk at the monastery of Dionysius. After that he became Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, and then ecumenical Patriarch between 1496-1498. He was brought to Wallachia by the ruler Radu cel Mare, who greeted him in Târgoviște with those beautiful words: "May I reign, and may you interpret and teach us the law of God, and be a father and a shepherd to me and to all my people, and mediator to God."

The Patriarch Nifon II reorganized the life of the church in Wallachia (1503-1505) and convoked a council in Târgoviște, in 1503, where he invited "All the abbots of the monasteries and the priests of the churches in the Diocese of Wallachia, together with the Lord of the Country, with all the boyars and governors."

On August the 11th, will take place the celebration of the Holy Hierarch Nifon, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Metropolitan of Wallachia, at the Stelea Monastery in Târgoviște, where the Holy Mass will be celebrated.