Saint Demetrius was born at the beginning of the thirteenth century, into a village family from the Basarabov region, located south of the Danube River, which was then part of the Bulgarian Kingdom.

Saint Demetrius, courageously since his childhood, entered into spiritual struggles and struggles in order to acquire virtue, committing himself to a life of prayer and fasting.

One day, while he was going to the field to graze the cows, he accidentally stepped on a bird's nest that was covered with weeds, crushing the chicks in it. He was very affected by this act and decided to punish himself. He left his leg, which he considered responsible for this mistake, bare, for three years, summer and winter, considering himself to have committed a murder.

The saint then joined one of the monastic companies, and after being well trained in a life of obedience, he isolated himself in a nearby forest, residing inside a cave located near the Lomos River, unknown to the people, offering his prayers and shedding his tears day and night before God. He knew in advance the day of his death, and as soon as he drew near, he lay down between two stones and deposited his soul in peace to the Lord.

Many years passed during which the entire world forgot the existence of the hermit and no one remembered him anymore. However, three centuries after his death, the river’s waters overflowed and its level rose to the cave, and the current swept away the two stones that were holding the saint’s body, and pushed the body out, where it remained immersed in the mud. One hundred years after that, the saint appeared in a dream to a young girl, Shalaa, and ordered her to ask her family to carry her to the riverbank so that she could be healed. As soon as the news was broadcast, large crowds attended, along with the diocese’s seminarians, accompanying the family to the location. The people of the area saw a strange light above the place without realizing the reason for this. The public began digging the place until they found the saint’s body unharmed, intact and radiant with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Immediately, the sick girl was healed.

The body was transferred with a solemn funeral ceremony to Basarabov, where many miracles of healing were accomplished through it, and large crowds began to flock to the place from all directions to seek blessings from the saint’s relics.

The ruler of Hongro-Valachi sent the city's notables and priests to verify this strange discovery, and ordered the veneration of a church in the village bearing the name of Saint Demetrius, and the relics were placed there, where, for many successive years, many miracles were performed by them.

At the end of the Russian-Turkish war in 1774, the Russian armies reached the borders of the Basarabov region, so General Peter Saltykov ordered Saltakov Transferring the relics of Saint Demetrius to Russia, for fear of their being violated or desecrated by the Turks.

When the procession carrying the relics arrived in Bucharest, a devout Christian named Demetrius Chatzi, who was a friend of the general, requested that the body of the saint be left in Romania for the people to bless it. General Saltykov agreed to this request, took only the saint's hand and sent it to the Cave Lavra in Kiev to be kept as a sacred relic.

The body of Saint Demetrius was placed in the Bucharest Cathedral, where his remains were honored because of the many miracles that had occurred, and the saint became the patron saint of the city and all of Romania.

Every year, on the twenty-seventh of October, large crowds gather in Bucharest to celebrate the feast of Saint Demetrius, where the people, for three days, bless his sacred remains, which exude a pleasant, sweet scent.

Prepared by the nuns of Saint Jacob Monastery - Deddah

The church celebrates him on October 27