Hundreds of Orthodox Christians took part in a religious ceremony to canonize Metropolitan Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni at the Capriana Monastery on September 3. The service was held within the Divine Liturgy by a group of priests and abbots of the monastery, headed by His Holiness Vladimir, the Metropolitan Bishop of Moldova, IPN reports.

Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni was the first head of the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia. During his nine-year rule, there were built 200 churches, the first theological college, publishing houses and the current building of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova. He also ordered restoring the Capriana Monastery, where he was later buried.

Deputy Minister of Culture Gheorghe Postica, in a call-in at the public TV channel Moldova 1, said that today’s event is an epochal one. Canonization occurs once in hundreds of years and there are peoples that do not have saints canonized from among themselves.

Metropolitan Bishop Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni was a remarkable personality, who contributed to developing the national culture. During 195 years, he rested at the Capriana Monastery. His bones stayed in a special vault until August 25 this year, when they were taken to the Monastery for the people to see the relics.

“The relics were conserved in the clothes that remained mainly intact. These include decorative elements made with golden thread that are in a very good state. Next week the relics will be taken to Iasi for restoration. In a year and a half, they will be brought back and laid at the Museum of the Capriana Monastery,” stated Gheorghe Postica.

The religious ceremony to canonize the first saint of Moldova at the Capriana Monastery involved 27 bishops from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Uzbekistan.