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<\/a>Saint Demetrius the Pious was brought to Bucharest on July 13, 1774, and from that time on he became the protector of all the people of Bucharest; all those who believed and hoped to receive healing and help from him in a miraculous way came to his holy relics to worship him. The healing grace of Saint Demetrius the Pious and the great number of miracles that took place at the reliquary of his holy remains quickly endeared him to the residents of Bucharest.<\/p>\nOn the reliquary of Saint Demetrius the Pious, the artisan Teodor Filipov included, among the scenes depicting the saint\u2019s miracles, a miracle less well-known to us\u2014namely, the one performed for the boyar Nicolae Dudescu. He is depicted standing inside a room, praying before the icon of Saint Demetrius. This scene, along with the fact that I could not find any documented account of this story, led me to undertake this brief research to discover what miracle Saint Demetrius might have performed for the great boyar Nicolae Dudescu. It goes without saying that at the time the reliquary was created (1874\u20131879), the miracle was already known, as this explains the depiction of Boyar Dudescu alongside the other seven scenes from the life and miracles of our Holy Father, the Venerable Demetrius. To understand who this Nicolae Dudescu was, we will provide a brief history of his family below.<\/p>\n
The Dudescu family began to make its appearance on the Romanian political scene at the end of the 16th century during the reign of Prince Mihai Viteazul. The Dudescu boyar family was among the most prominent in Wallachia and traces its origins to the village of Dudesti in Ilfov County. The first boyar from this family documented in historical records was Dumitru Dudescu, chief steward and envoy to Mihai Viteazul, who defeated the Turks at Kiselet. As a close associate of Mihai Viteazul, he built his residence at the foot of Spirii Hill, near the famous Mihai-Voda Monastery. The Dudescu Palace is none other than the former palace of the mattress-maker Constantin Cantacuzino and his daughter Maria, who would marry Radu Dudescu; thus, they inherited the old mattress-maker\u2019s houses as well.<\/p>\n
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This house was expanded and embellished by Constantin Dudescu between 1730 and 1744 and, around 1767, by Nicolae Dudescu, becoming\u2014according to documents from that period\u2014one of the grandest houses in Bucharest, known as the Dudescu Houses. The Dudescu Houses were built in the Arhimandritului neighborhood, which had formed around the Church of the Holy Apostles and which, after 1700, would take the name \u201cDudescu\u2019s neighborhood,\u201d because the Dudesti boyars owned large estates here\u2014some granted by Brancoveanu from the princely lands on the left side of the Calicilor Bridge (today\u2019s Calea Rahovei), and others purchased in 1713 from Albu Caldararul, in 1714 from Priest Gherghina, and in 1776 from Radu Golescu. Surrounding these houses was a garden modeled after English parks and considered one of the most beautiful in the city. In less than a hundred years, streets and various buildings sprang up in its place. The former Sfintii Apostoli Street once crossed the site of the old English park; that street, too, has largely disappeared as a result of urban redevelopment in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Dudesti neighborhood, which served as the residence of this family of Romanian boyars, there was also the village of Dudesti on the outskirts of Bucharest, owned by the Dudescu family. The village of Dudesti, located on the southeastern edge of Bucharest (today the Balta Alba-Titan neighborhood), was their estate, where the villagers engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. The Dudesti family owned a manor house in this village that still stands today, and next to it, Nicolae Dudescu built a church (south of the manor) dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God. We do not know when it was built, but it is documented on a Russian map from 1770. Damaged by earthquakes (1802, 1804), it was rebuilt in 1820 by the banker Stefanache Hagi-Mosco, a baron of the Austrian Empire, who also dedicated it to Saint Nicholas, likely in memory of the original founder. Today, the only reminder of the old village is Calea Dudesti.<\/p>\n
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Nicolae Dudescu was the son of the Grand Ban Constantin Dudescu and Lady Maria Cantemir. Nicolae\u2019s date of birth is unknown, but given that his father married in 1718, we can estimate that it took place around or shortly after 1720. Nicolae Dudescu married Anita Stirbei, with whom he had five children: Safta (Sevastia), Constantin, Maria, Smaranda (Marta), and Elena. Anita Stirbei was the daughter of the vornic Nicolae Stirbei and Maria Golescu. Nicolae entered politics at a young age alongside his father, who would help him rise to the highest political offices, but at a very high cost. He held many important and high-ranking positions, and by the end of his life he would be known as the former vel ban Nicolae Dudescu. He was an imposing man, aware of his own importance and proud of his family\u2019s ancient lineage; in 1780, he introduced himself to ambassadors passing through the country\u2019s capital as Imperial Count Dudescu-Cantacuzino\u2014a title he requested on his deathbed be carved on his tombstone.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned earlier, Nicolae Dudescu entered political life at a young age; with his father\u2019s help, in 1741\u2014at the age of about 20\u2014he became Second Chamberlain, and by 1750 he had risen to the position of Grand Chamberlain. He had built a brilliant career over those ten years, thanks to the influence of a father who would elevate him to the position of Grand Treasurer. However, his peace was disrupted by Prince Grigorie II Ghica (1748\u20131752), who, on March 28, 1752, had him imprisoned at Snagov Monastery, along with several other boyars and merchants, on the charge that they had failed to pay the funds for the sheep-herding service. He was imprisoned in harsh conditions, stripped of 70 bags of money, and kept imprisoned until the prince\u2019s death on August 23, 1752.<\/p>\n
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From Snagov, he was moved to Cotroceni and then to Vacaresti, where he prayed to Saint Nicholas to set him free\u2014a prayer that the saint answered. To show his gratitude to his savior, he built a church from the ground up in honor of Saint Nicholas in the village of Stroiesti, to which he also donated a Gospel in which he recorded the miracle the saint had performed for him; among other things, we read: \u201cThis holy and divine Gospel was donated from Stroiesti, where the feast day of Saint Nicholas the Great is celebrated and honored, and was consecrated by me, the servant of God Nicolae Dudescu, formerly Vel Stolnic… Seeing that God was punishing me for my many sins, I called upon this Saint Nicholas to help me and deliver me from the hands of my enemies. Thus, without delay and in haste, he showed me the abundance of his mercies. But I, his servant, having no other way to show my gratitude, decided\u2014setting my mind on God and the Saint\u2019s help\u2014to build this little holy church from the ground up at my own expense in the village of Stroiesti…\u201d Unfortunately, this \u201cturn of events\u201d stirred up in the hearts of Nicolae Dudescu and his father a fierce desire for revenge\u2014rather than forgiveness\u2014toward those who had persecuted him. Thus, by exploiting the intrigues at court, they would raise and bring down rulers.<\/p>\n
Grigorie Ghica was succeeded by his son, Matei Ghica (1752\u20131753), whom the Dudescu family, through their intrigues at the Sublime Porte and in their desire for revenge, would remove from the throne of Wallachia and exile to Moldavia. However, Nicolae Dudescu, along with his parents, Constantin and Maria Dudescu, were sent into exile in Mytilene for their intrigues, from where Constantin Voda Racovita (1753\u20131756) had them released in 1753. But two years later, again driven by a desire for revenge, Constantin Dudescu, in collusion with Barbu Vacarescu, convinced Grigore, the Bishop of R\u00e2mnic, to join the boyars of Oltenia in traveling to Adrianople to overthrow this ruler.<\/p>\n
In 1761, Nicolae Dudescu was at the Sublime Porte as the country\u2019s representative and, in collusion with his father, plotted the overthrow of Constantin Mavrocordat (1761\u20131763), the third ruler targeted by the Dudescu family. After the deposition of Constantin Mavrocordat, Nicolae Dudescu was appointed caimacam, and the ruler set off for Mytilene. Shortly thereafter, Nicolae became Grand Treasurer; however, due to the debts to the Turks incurred by Prince Constantin Racovita (1763\u20131764), the two Dudescus were imprisoned alongside their adversaries in the palace dungeon, \u201calong with thieves and murderers, without bedding, in leg irons and with chains around their necks.\u201d The plan was to have them killed, but Racovita fell ill and took to his bed. Upon hearing the news, Dudescu\u2019s friends organized a popular uprising that miraculously freed them from the dungeon, for the people did not hate the Dudesti brothers. Seeing the crowd of chained Bucharest residents only increased the people\u2019s discontent with the prince, and the people marched to the princely palace, where the prince had ordered the courtyard gates to be closed. A few days later, fearing a revolt, Racovita poisoned himself and died.<\/p>\n
When Prince Stefan Racovita (1764\u20131765) succeeded his deceased brother, he introduced a new tax, which the boyars opposed; however, he immediately obtained a firman ordering the arrest of 18 of them, two of whom were beheaded on April 26, 1764. Prince Racovita forced Constantin Dudescu to go to Constantinople, bringing numerous charges against him, but Nicolae refused to go: \u201cHe did not want to go under any circumstances, stating that he feared for his life.\u201d Forced by Prince Stefan Racovita, the elderly Dudescu took the monastic vows to save his life from this predicament. In the monastery, he received the name Clement and lived as a simple monk at the Monastery of the Holy Apostles until 1766 or 1767, when he fell asleep in the Lord. The Monastery of the Holy Apostles (today the Church of the Holy Apostles), which was located in the Dudesti neighborhood and near his home, had been endowed by him with the Jugureni estate during his time as a layperson. Within the walls of this monastery\u2014which is considered a foundation of his family\u2014he would live out his life as a monk, and it is here that his body would also be laid to rest after his death. Interestingly, his name appears first on the list of founders: \u201cKLIMENT MONAHU,\u201d perhaps due to the gifts and assistance he provided to the monastery after taking his monastic vows.<\/p>\n
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The Monastery of the Holy Apostles, located not far from the Dudesti family\u2019s homes, would become, from the first half of the 18th century onward, the monastery and church par excellence of the Dudesti family. It appears that the Dudestis made generous donations to it and undertook restorations, as if it were a foundation of their own. The chalice donated in 1741 by Constantin Dudescu (the future monk Clement) is still preserved today; its inscription commemorates the donor and his family in Greek: \u201cRemember, O Lord, your sinful servants Constantin, Maria, Nicolae, Zoe, their parents, and their children, 1741.\u201d It is hard to imagine that Nicolae, the nobleman, would not have generously endowed the very monastery that housed the remains of his parents. In May 1777, Nicolae Dudescu can be seen tending to the monastery and interceding with Prince Alexandru Ipsilanti to grant it some revenues and bestow alms upon it. The fact that the monastery was considered a foundation of his family is also evident from the Buresti map drawn up by F. J. Sulzer toward the end of the 18th century, where the monastery is shown as \u201cKirche des Ban Dudesckul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicolae, too, did not escape the wrath of Prince Racovita and was also held accountable by him, as the prince was in dire need of money. This was followed by a revolt by the people of Bucharest to free the boyars, which was brutally suppressed but resulted in Racovita\u2019s replacement by Scarlat Ghica (1765\u20131766). His father\u2019s hasty ordination as a monk at the Monastery of the Holy Apostles\u2014a man who had served as his advisor and helper throughout his life\u2014as well as his narrow escape from death would radically change his life following these events.<\/p>\n
Constantin Dudescu would leave his son Nicolae a vast fortune, which Nicolae, in turn, would increase considerably; by the end of the 18th century, it was considered one of the largest in Wallachia. But this fortune was increased by a marvelous, almost unbelievable coincidence, as recounted by the French consul Peyssonel, who was passing through the country\u2019s capital during the reign of Mihail Racovita Voda. He recounts that Dudescu had brought in a German craftsman to exploit a stone quarry on a hill located on one of his estates on the outskirts of Bucharest, intending to use the stone for the boyar\u2019s houses. The German discovered a \u201cvein\u201d of gold and asked his master if he could continue digging. Extraction began, and the reward was rich indeed; the quantity was very large and significantly increased the Dudescu family\u2019s fortune.<\/p>\n
During Ghica\u2019s reign, Nicolae Dudescu rose to the position of Grand Steward (1775), and in 1780 he ascended to the title of Grand Ban. As we can see, he remained active in the country\u2019s political life, following in the footsteps of his father\u2019s monastic vocation; but, weary of the intrigues of the political arena, he withdrew from this struggle for political supremacy; we might say that he discovered Christ and began to care more for his soul, visiting\u2014together with his wife, Anita Stirbei\u2014the holy monasteries in his elegant Viennese carriages and bestowing generous donations upon them. We may recall that, in addition to the monasteries around Bucharest, he also visited those in Oltenia, to which he was connected through his office as Grand Ban of Craiova.<\/p>\n
His radical transformation and his turn toward the sacred through his support of the monasteries\u2014which he had begun to visit very frequently\u2014lead us to believe that it was due to his miraculous deliverance in 1765 from the wrath of Voivode Racovita, for his visits to the monasteries began in that year. The fact that he received heavenly help during this cruel ordeal is evident from the change in him after that year, as he became much more attentive to the needs of the Church. Among the acts of charity performed by Nicolae Dudescu, we may mention the one he did for Saint Basil the Pious, to whom, in 1765 (after he had escaped death), he donated the Grabicina estate in Buz\u0103u County to the hermitage at Poiana Marului. He did this because he had personally known the Venerable Basil, the hermitage\u2019s abbot at the time, to whom he had confessed and who had guided him in his life. The boyar thus felt indebted \u201cto His Holiness, the spiritual father Vasile, the hermit of the Poiana Marului hermitage, because he was a source of comfort and interceded for us before God during the hardships that had befallen us as a result of the events of the times\u2026,\u201d as he states in the deed of donation.<\/p>\n
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We also find him assisting Saint George the Pious of Cernica, during the time when the latter was abbot, by supplying the monastery with flour and cornmeal from his mills in Frujinesti for the benefit of the monastic community. He had many ties to Saint George the Pious, and that is why in 1784, Dudescu\u2019s wife, Anita Stirbei\u2014who is referred to on her tombstone as \u201cthe adornment of gentleness\u201d\u2014is depicted alongside Maria Golescu (her mother) visiting the abbot during Lent, as he asks them to help provide the necessities for the ordination of thirty-three monks. The two ladies sent the supplies needed for the monastic life on Palm Sunday, and during Holy Week, all were tonsured. Seeing that the monastic community had grown, the Holy Monk introduced the church\u2019s rules according to the order of Mount Athos, which he oversaw until December 3, 1806, when he fell asleep in the Lord.<\/p>\n
Nicolae Dudescu fell asleep in the Lord in 1787 and was buried in the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Apostles in the Dudesti neighborhood alongside his father. The Dudestilor family\u2019s tombstone is inscribed in Greek and, when translated, reads as follows: \u201cThe tomb you behold holds the bodies of the departed Dudestilor family, whose souls have flown to heaven… It contains Antioh (Cantemir), a famous and virtuous man, and Maria, who was the daughter of the glorious boyar (Constantin) Cantemir\u2026 A little earlier, it held Nicolae and his wife (Anita), who was the very embodiment of gentleness, and their children Smaranda and Andronic, whom God may forgive because they did not have the chance to be saved, June 23, 1787.\u201d His wife Anita would die three years later, in 1790.<\/p>\n
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Nicolae Dudescu influentat poate de caracterul si personalitatea dominanta a tatalui sau Constantin a fost supus probabil unei educatii din partea acestuia plina de dorinte de putere, de dominare, de vanitate si razvratire impotriva domnitorilor ce erau obligati sa asculte propunerile tatalui sau in numirea de boieri si in hotaririle politice. Astfel nu-l putem condamna pe Nicolae intru totul pentru pornirile sale pline de ura, mandrie si razbunare fata de domnitori in special. Nicolae, omul mandru, vanitos si plin de importanta datorita legaturii de sange cu familiile domnesti va fi insa ajutat de propria-i constiinta la salvarea sufletului sau. Se smereste si invata importanta adevaratei vieti in Hristos, chiar si prin tunderea in monahism a tatalui sau in ultimii ani de viata ai acestuia, dar cel mai mult bineinteles prin salvarea sa de la moarte.<\/p>\n
In legatura cu scena de pe racla Sfantului Dimitrie unde apare boierul Nicolae Dudescu rugandu-se si luand in considerare documentatia istorica consultata, insa necercetand arhivele Sfantului Sinod al Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane la care nu am avut acces, unde ce-i drept poate as fi putut gasi istorisirea acestei minuni. Cu toate acestea, nu putem totusi nega faptul ca Dudescu nu ar fi avut o relatie spirituala cu Sfantul Dimitrie. Asadar, datorita putinelor informatii de la vremea aceea ce s-au consemnat de catre unii istorici nu putem face altceva decat sa enuntam cateva pareri referitoare la aceasta legatura dintre cei doi. Se pare ca aceasta familie a inceput sa aiba o evlavie deosebita la Sfantul Dimitrie dupa mutarea sfintelor sale moaste la 1774, deoarece la supravegherea construirii catedralei mitropolitane a Sfintilor Constantin si Elena in anul 1656 domnitorul a randuit pe bunicul sau, logofatul Radu Dudescu si pe Gheorghe Sufariu din Targoviste. Faptul ca logofatul Radu Dudescu a supravegheat la construirea catedralei face ca aceasta familie sa fie legata de acest monument si astfel Nicolae Dudescu sa alerge la racla Sfantului Dimitrie pentru a-i cere sprijin.<\/p>\n
Sfintii mijlocesc pentru noi atunci cand ne rugam fierbinte, cu credinta puternica. Din relatarea vietii boierului Dudescu aflam ca a fost scapat de la moarte de doua ori. Sa ti se redea viata de doua ori, nu este oare o minune dumnezeiasca?! Dupa prima salvare de la moarte din 1752, cand s-a rugat protectorului sau, Sfantul Nicolae, boierul Dudescu ca semn de multumire a ridicat din temelie o biserica in cinstea Sfantului Nicolae in satul Stroiesti. Acest lucru ne convinge de credinta sa puternica fata de izbavitorul lui. Dupa a doua mare incercare, de unde a scapat iar in mod minunat de la taierea capului la 1764, putem spune ca a fost si anul in care Dudescu si-a schimbat radical viata, urmand ca la 1765 sa dea una din mosiile sale schitului de la Poiana Marului. Au urmat multe alte donatii si faceri de bine catre manastiri si biserici, dar si catre oameni din popor, care se pare ca-i iubeau pe Dudesti.<\/p>\n
Reprezentarea lui Dudescu pe racla inseamna ca de la venirea sfantului la Bucuresti in 1774 si pana la moartea lui Dudescu din 1787 Sfantul Dimitrie a savarsit o minune cu boierul nostru, ceea ce coincide si cu scena noastra de pe racla. In scena, Dudescu este reprezentat intr-o incapere in picioare cu mainile ridicate la rugaciune spre o icoana (probabil cea a Sfantului Dimitrie). Pare a fi vorba de camera sa personala si nu de un interior de biserica, datorita mobilierului existent in scena. Toate aceste elemente relatate astfel si puse unul langa altul ne conduc sigur la concluzia ca Sfantul Dimitrie i-a facut o minune acestui boier.<\/p>\n
In alta ordine de idei boierul Dudescu apare ca primul personaj roman caruia Sfantul Dimitrie i-a savarsit o minune si a fost reprezentat pe racla intre toate celelalte sapte minuni si evenimente, savarsite si petrecute de sfantul pana la mutarea sfintelor sale moaste la Bucuresti.<\/p>\n
La venirea sfantului la 13 iulie 1774, Tara Romaneasca se afla sub stapanire ruseasca, care a incetat la 15 septembrie a aceluiasi an cand a fost inscaunat Alexandru Ipsilanti. La intampinarea moastelor de catre mitropolitul Grigorie al II-lea al Ungrovlahiei, sigur a fost prezent si Dudescu ca mare boier al tarii, alaturi bineinteles de ceilalti boieri. Nu este exclus ca si Dudescu sa se fi numarat printre cei care l-au rugat pe generalul Petru Saltikov sa lase sfintele moaste ale Sfantului Cuvios Dimitrie catedralei mitropolitane ca binecuvantare pentru Tara Romaneasca. De asemenea, cunoscut fiind tuturor bucurestenilor dragostea de Biserica si multele donatii facute de Nicolae Dudescu nu este de mirare ca la 1786, cu un an inainte de moartea lui, mitropolitul Grigorie ce a facut in acel an o noua racla sfantului sa fi cerut ajutor banesc si boierului Dudescu, cunoscut de altfel ca mare binefacator si de ce nu tamaduit de sfantul.<\/p>\n
Whatever Dudescu\u2019s contribution may have been and whatever his connection to Saint Demetrius, it is certain that if the master craftsman Teodor Filipov depicted him on the saint\u2019s new reliquary one hundred years after his death, it is understandable and certain that the saint performed a miracle for him during these thirteen years of Dudescu\u2019s life (1774\u20131787).<\/p>\n
Fr. Dr. Vicentiu Curelaru
\n(source: crestinortodox.ro)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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Saint Demetrius the Pious was brought to Bucharest on July 13, 1774, and from that time on he became the protector of all the people of Bucharest; all those who believed and hoped to receive healing and help from him in a miraculous way came to his holy relics to worship him. The healing grace … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","post","publish","author-antonel","post-11726","format-image","category-biblioteca","post_format-post-format-image","has-format"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18589,"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11726\/revisions\/18589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}