More than 180,000 pilgrims have visited the Romanian city of Iași since the beginning of October to venerate the relics of Saint Parascheva of Iași, one of the most widely revered saints in the Orthodox Christian world.

The celebrations reached their peak on October 14, the saint’s feast day, with a Divine Liturgy celebrated at an outdoor altar near the Metropolitan Cathedral. More than 28,000 faithful attended the service, according to the Romanian Orthodox Church’s website.

The liturgy was presided over by Metropolitan Dimitrios of France and Exarch of Europe, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He was joined by Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina; Metropolitan Georgios of Kitros, Katerini and Platamon, representing the Church of Greece; Bishop Kais of Erzurum from the Patriarchate of Antioch; and Bishop Iakovos of Stobi from the Macedonian Orthodox Church. A total of 28 bishops and metropolitans from Romania and other countries took part in the celebration.

This year, pilgrims were able to venerate not only the relics of Saint Parascheva but also those of Saint Paisios the Athonite’s namesake, the Romanian monastic elder Saint Paisios of Sihăstria. The latter’s relics were brought from Sihăstria Monastery in Neamț County.

Both sets of relics were placed beneath a specially constructed canopy in the square near the Metropolitan Cathedral.

According to the organizers, more than 180,000 people had venerated the relics of the two saints by the morning of October 14. Romanian news agency AGERPRES reported that the queue stretched for approximately five kilometres on the night before the feast, with some pilgrims waiting up to 17 hours to reach the relics.

The main celebrations took place along Ștefan cel Mare Boulevard in central Iași, near the Metropolitan Cathedral. Large screens were installed to allow people who could not approach the liturgical site to follow the service.

The programme began in the morning with church services and the reading of the Akathist hymn to Saint Parascheva. Following the Divine Liturgy, worshippers continued to venerate the relics. Organizers decided to keep them accessible outdoors for as long as the large crowds continued to arrive.

Saint Parascheva lived in the 11th century and was born in the village of Epivates in Thrace, near Constantinople. She devoted her life to Christian faith, prayer and asceticism. Her relics have been kept in Iași since the 17th century.

The saint is venerated as the heavenly patroness of Iași and the historic region of Moldavia. Her annual feast on October 14 attracts believers from across Romania and other Orthodox countries, making it one of the largest religious gatherings in the country.

This year’s celebrations marked the culmination of a pilgrimage that began on October 8, when the relics were solemnly transferred from the cathedral to the designated veneration site.

The opportunity to honour two revered figures of Romanian Orthodox spirituality — Saint Parascheva and Saint Paisios of Sihăstria — was a particular feature of this year’s event, drawing large numbers of pilgrims to Iași.