Romania glorifies saint from Chernivtsi region who survived Soviet camps

Icon of Venerable Blandina (Gobzhilă) of Iași. Photo: Facebook page of faithful of the Chernivtsi Eparchy

On May 17, 2026, the local glorification of a new confessor of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Venerable Blandina (Gobzhilă) of Iași, took place at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Paraskeva in Iași. The future saint was born in what is now Chernivtsi Region – in the Bessarabian village of Hrusheivtsi, Kelmentsi district, the faithful of the UOC’s Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy reported on Facebook.

St. Blandina, born Maria Gobzhilă, came into the world on February 24, 1906, in the family of priest Zacharia Popovych. From childhood, she was raised in a church atmosphere, attended services, and knew the Liturgy almost by heart. She later graduated from a gymnasium and worked as a teacher.

Tragedy entered her life after Soviet rule came to Bessarabia. In 1941, her husband was arrested, and soon Blandina herself was detained. Soviet authorities accused her of intending to flee to Romania and declared her an “enemy of the people.”

The confessor passed through prisons in Kazan and Sviyazhsk, labor camps, and years of exile in Siberia. During her imprisonment, she suffered serious illness, hunger, abuse, and forced labor. Her husband died in custody in 1943.

Despite her suffering, Blandina did not lose her faith. In the camps, she supported other prisoners, prayed with nuns, secretly helped baptize children, and cared for the sick. According to the memories of contemporaries, she would constantly repeat: “Everything is in God’s hands.”

After her release in 1956, she returned to Romania and settled in Iași, near the cathedral where the relics of St. Paraskeva rested. Even her own relatives demanded that she renounce her faith, but the confessor firmly replied: “I can renounce everything, but not God.”

Left without a home or family support, Blandina dedicated herself to serving the Church. She lived in extreme modesty, helped at the metropolitan cathedral, washed floors, copied spiritual texts, and comforted those who came to her for counsel and prayer.

The saint reposed in the Lord on May 24, 1971. In 2025, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church officially glorified her among the confessors.

As the UOJ reported, the relics of Venerable Olimpiada of Fărcașa were uncovered in Romania.

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