Author(s): His Beatitude Daniel Patriarch of Romania / Language(s): Romanian
Issue: 2/2021
With great spiritual joy, in the light of the feast of the Lord’s Resurrection, the entire Romanian Orthodoxy, at home and abroad, but particularly the Diocese of Tulcea welcomes this year the feast of the Holy Martyrs Zotikos, Attalos, Kamasis and Philippos, who have been the protectors of Dobrudja for a long time, and since 2008 are the patron saints of the young diocese of the Danube Delta.This year (2021), we celebrate 50 years since the providential uncovering of these saints in the hearth of Niculițel village, in the summer of 1971, following torrential rains that washed the earth once reddened by the blood of martyrs. The holy martyrs Zotikos, Attalos, Kamasis and Philippos were buried in the martyrium of Niculițel, under the majestic basilica built over their tomb, during the second half of the 4th century. This basilica has special significance for the history of the Romanian Orthodox Church because here the relics of these saints have been preserved in a martyrium built especially for them.The land of Dobrudja, starting with the martyrs Epictetus and Astion of Halmyris (†July 8, 290) and continuing with the martyrs Zotikos, Attalos, Kamasis and Philippos of Isaccea-Niculițel, has been sanctified by the sacrifice of many martyrs, especially in the first four Christian centuries. To highlight the uninterrupted continuity of our apostolic faith and the sacrifice of the Romanian people, at the consecration of the Altar of the Romanian People’s Salvation cathedral (25 November, 2018), particles of the relics of the Holy Martyrs of Niculițel, offered by His Grace Bishop Visarion of Tulcea, were placed within the foot of the Holy Table. Today, on the 50th anniversary of the uncovering of the holy relics of the martyrs of Niculițel, the Romanian Orthodox believers from the Diocese of Tulcea, from the neighbouring dioceses, but also other regions of the country, with great faith, devotion and love, come to this source of blessing, which soothes both physical and spiritual sufferings of devout believers.
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