{"id":207050,"date":"2018-09-18T15:31:45","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T12:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=207050"},"modified":"2018-09-18T15:31:45","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T12:31:45","slug":"memorial-to-national-heroes-consecrated-at-romanian-monastery-on-site-where-14000-soldiers-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/memorial-to-national-heroes-consecrated-at-romanian-monastery-on-site-where-14000-soldiers-died\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial to national heroes consecrated at Romanian Monastery on site where 14,000 soldiers died"},"content":{"rendered":"

A monument to Romanian national heroes was consecrated on Friday at the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Brusturi commune in northwestern Romania, where 14,000 Romanian, Russian, and German soldiers died in one night during World War II.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The service was celebrated by His Grace Bishop Macarie of Northern Europe after the outdoor Divine Liturgy celebrated at the monastery\u2019s summer altar.<\/p>\n

In his homily, the hierarch addressed the role of Christianity in forming Europe and the peoples\u2019 attitude towards it today, saying, \u201cEurope stands or falls as it hangs on the Cross of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope, let\u2019s not forget, was born in the shadow of the Cross of Jesus, and when it denies Christ and the Cross, it will definitely find its end\u2026 The peoples of Europe, at an increasingly accelerating speed, deny the Cross, both spiritually and in a concrete way\u2026 Many in Europe, unfortunately, are ashamed of the sign of the Cross, which they take out of public places, schools, and churches under the pretext of not offending members of other cultures and religions,\u201d Bp. Macarie opined.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope has become a different world from decades ago: Same-sex marriages, erasing the difference between man and woman, confusion, chaos, conflict, etc.,\u201d Bp. Macarie noted.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Holy Cross Monastery in Brusturi is also called the Heroes Monastery because it was erected in memory of the thousands of soldiers who perished in the nearby forests.<\/p>\n

The monastic settlement in the Brusturi forest was originally a hermitage under the Bistrita Monastery. The church\u2019s foundation stone was consecrated in 1992, and the hermitage was raised to the status of monastery, with 12 monks, in 2007.<\/p>\n