AP PHOTOS: Roma celebrate religious feast day in Romania

COSTESTI, Romania (AP) — Getting down on their knees, hundreds of Roma kiss the relics of an Orthodox saint at a hillside monastery for their annual celebration of the birthday of St. Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Every autumn, Roma — also known as Gypsies — flock to worship at the 15th-century Bistrita monastery in southern Romania, which holds the relics of St. Gregory.

Roma file past Gregory's tomb, on their knees or on crutches, kissing and touching it in the belief they will receive a blessing. Others place money on a church icon or slip banknotes into the priest's prayer book.

Since communism ended, Roma have gathered at the monastery for the Sept. 8 religious holiday.