Mănăstirea Secu. Buletin istoric şi cultural, I, Galaţi, 2025, pp. 161-174
CHIRIAC DUHOVNICUL – ISTORIA MĂNĂSTIRII SECU PÂNĂ LA VENIREA SFÂNTULUI PAISIE VELICICOVSCHI
AUTOR: Filotheu BĂLAN
Cuvinte Cheie: Mănăstirea Secu, duhovnicul Chiriac, moaştele Sfântului Ioan Botezătorul, Nestor Ureche, manuscrise inedite
Keywords: Secu Monastery, Confessor Chiriac, the relics of Saint John the Baptist, Nestor Ureche, unpublished manuscripts
CHIRIAC THE CONFESSOR – THE HISTORY OF SECU MONASTERY UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF SAINT PAISIUS VELICHKOVSKY
(Abstract)
Romanian Manuscript No. 318 from the Library of the Romanian Academy contains the first known Romanian-language version of the History of the Neamţ and Secu Monasteries, written by Father Confessor Chiriac (1794–1878), in the year 1849. Previous researchers of this manuscript have likely overlooked its importance due to the 70 folios that are autographs of Archimandrite Andronic, a well-known 19th-century chronicler. Folios 11r–16r of the manuscript contain the earliest known history of Secu Monastery. Chiriac’s chronicle represents the primary source (later substantially enriched by Archimandrites Augustin Brahă and Andronic Popovici in 1857–1858) of the History of the Neamţ and Secu Monasteries, which was subsequently continued solely by Archimandrite Andronic Popovici. He expanded the work through several revised editions enriched with first-hand historical sources, eventually developing it into no fewer than ten volumes, completed before his death in 1893.