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| St. Dimitrie Basarabov |
Born in the XIII Century in the village of Basarab, south
of the Danube’s Romanian territory, of a poor family who could not give him a
formal education, was forced to earn himself for his basic needs at a very
young age.
For years, he took the cattle and sheep of the farmers
from the village grazing on the hills near the Danube river
and the green valleys of the Lom. Life in the woods as a young shepherd offered
the young boy the opportunity to admire the beauty of nature always visible,
helping him to love the Creator of the world and the unseen beauty as well.
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| Lom RiverOn Sundays and holidays took part along with his parents
and other believers to prayers in the village church. Fasting and praying constantly, as befits a true Christian, he also cared for the poor, shared the food he received from his fellow villagers to guard cattle and in time decided he would join a group of brothers in a monastery to dedicate his life to The Lord. |
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| Basarabov Monastery Bulgaria |
He spent the rest of his life in a cave, praying and
helping the sick.
It is said that when his time came, he went down to the
shore of the Lom river and laid his body between two boulders placing his soul
in the arms of God, surrounded by angels before going to heaven.
Many years passed by, the folk tradition is that one
night he appeared in the dream of a very ill young girl, telling her where his
body was and that if her parents would get him out of the water, she would be
healed.
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| Fresco by Cezar Ivana of St.Dimitrie |
They and other Christian believers did, placed him in the
village church and the girl was saved.
The news of his venerable relics finding was soon spread
in the townships south of the Danube, and in the north.
Many believers were heading towards Basarab village to
worship the precious relics and ask the great saint for blessings.
For five centuries, his relics remained in the area until
the war of 1768-1774 between Russians and Ottomans on parts of the Romanian
territory.
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| Icon Detail with a Relic of St.Dimitrie |
The Russian General Petru Saltacov, in fear that the
muslims would desecrate the relics of St.Dimitrie, ordered for them to be taken
to Russia, via Bucharest.
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| Pilgrimage to the Relics of St. Dimitrie |
There he was asked to leave them for the Romanian people on
July, 1774 at the Metropolitan Cathedral and so, St. Dimitrie Basarabov became
the protector of Bucharest, of Romania and healer of many.
His right hand did make it to Russia, believed to still
be in Kiev.
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| Relics of St.Dimitrie Basarabov |
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