page_title: History of Christianity in Romania
section_title: Origin of the Romanians' Christianity
hierarchical_section_title: History of Christianity in Romania / Origin of the Romanians' Christianity
caption_attribution_description: English: ancient objects with christisn signs in Romania
context_page_description: The history of Christianity in Romania began within the Roman province of Lower Moesia, where many Christians were martyred at the end of the 3rd century. Evidence of Christian communities has been found in the territory of modern Romania at over a hundred archaeological sites from the 3rd and 4th centuries. However, sources from the 7th and 10th centuries are so scarce that Christianity seems to have diminished during this period.
  The vast majority of Romanians are adherent to the Orthodox Church, while most other populations that speak Romance languages follow the Catholic Church. The basic Christian terminology in Romanian is of Latin origin, though the Romanians, referred to as Vlachs in medieval sources, borrowed numerous South Slavic terms due to the adoption of the liturgy officiated in Old Church Slavonic. The earliest Romanian translations of religious texts appeared in the 15th century, and the first complete translation of the Bible was published in 1688.
  The oldest proof that an Orthodox church hierarchy existed among the Romanians north of the river Danube is a papal bull of 1234.
context_section_description: The oldest proof that an Orthodox church hierarchy existed among the Romanians north of the river Danube is a papal bull of 1234. In the territories east and south of the Carpathian Mountains, two metropolitan sees subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople were set up after the foundation of two principalities, Wallachia and Moldavia in the 14th century. The growth of monasticism in Moldavia provided a historical link between the 14th-century Hesychast revival and the modern development of the monastic tradition in Eastern Europe. Orthodoxy was for centuries only tolerated in the regions west of the Carpathians where Roman Catholic dioceses were established within the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century. In these territories, transformed into the Principality of Transylvania in the 16th century, four "received religions" – Calvinism, Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Unitarianism – were granted a privileged status. After the principality was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, a part of the local Orthodox clergy declared the union with Rome in 1698.
  The core religious vocabulary of the Romanian language originated from Latin. Christian words that have been preserved from Latin include a boteza ("to baptize"), Paște ("Easter"), preot ("priest"), and cruce ("cross"). Some words, such as biserică ("church", from basilica) and Dumnezeu ("God", from Domine Deus), are independent of their synonyms in other Romance languages.
  The exclusive presence in Romanian language of Latin vocabulary for concepts of Christian faith proves the antiquity of Daco-Roman Christianity; some examples are:
  altar(ium) – altar ("altar"),
  angelus – înger ("angel"),
  basilica – biserică ("church"),
  baptisare – a boteza ("to baptize"),
  cantare, canticum – cântare, cântec ("sing", "song"),
  crux, cruce – cruce ("cross"),
  communicare ("communicate") – a cumineca ("to receive or give Communion/Eucharist"),
  commendare ("commend, commit") – a comânda ("to sacrifice; to remember or pray for someone who died"),
  credere – a crede ("to believe"),
  credentia – credință ("faith, belief"),
  christianus – creștin ("Christian"),
  Dominus – Domn, Doamne ("God, Lord"),
  draco – drac ("evil", "devil"),
  Floralia ("ancient festival") – Florii ("Palm Sunday"),
  ieiunare – a ajuna ("to fast"),
  ieiunus - ajun ("fast")
  ligare:
  carnem ligare ("tie/bind meat") – cârnelegi, cârneleagă ("penultimate week of Advent fast when meat can be eaten")
  caseum ligare ("tie/bind cheese")– câșlegi,
  luminaria – lumânare ("candle"),
  lex, lege – lege ("law, faith"),
  martyr – martor ("witness"),
  monumentum – mormânt ("tomb"),
  presbyter – preut (preot) ("priest"),
  peccatum – păcat ("sin"),
  paganus –  păgân ("pagan"),
  pervigilium, pervigilare – priveghi, priveghea ("wake", "to keep watch/vigil for a wake"),
  rogare, rogatio(ne) – ruga, rugăciune (rugă) ("to pray", "praying"),
  quadragesima – păresimi ("Lent"),
  sanctus – sânt (sfânt) ("saint"),
  scriptura – scriptură ("scripture, writing"),
  *sufflitus – suflet ("soul, spirit")
  thymiama – tămâie ("incense"),
  turma – turmă ("flock"), etc.
  The same is true for the Christian denominations of the main Christian holidays: Crăciun ("Christmas") (from Latin calatio(ne) or rather from Latin creatio(ne)) and Paște ("Easter") (from Latin Paschae); and also for the invocations to the deity: per deu(m) – zău! and Domine Deus – Dumnezeu ("God"). Several archaic or popular saint names, sometimes found as elements in place names, also seem to derive from Latin: Sâmpietru, Sângiordz, Sânicoară, Sânmedru, Sântilie, Sântioan, Sântoader, Sântămărie, and Sânvăsii. Today, sfânt, of Slavic origin, is the usual way to refer to saint.
  The Romanian language also adopted many Slavic religious terms. For example, words like duh ("soul, spirit"), iad ("hell"), rai ("paradise"), grijanie ("Holy Communion"), popă ("priest"), slujbă ("church service") and taină ("mystery, sacrament") are of South Slavic origin. Even some terms of Greek and Latin origin, such as călugar ("monk") and Rusalii ("Whitsuntide"), entered Romanian through Slavic. Several terms relating to church hierar
caption: Early medieval artefacts decorated with Christian symbols from Romania: 1 Barboși (Galați) 3rd–4th c., 2 Ruginoasa (Iași) 6th–8th c., 3 Botoșna (Suceava) 6th–8th c., 4 Borniș (Neamț) 6th–8th c., 5 Iași 9th–11th c.[12]
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