Saint Paisius Velichkovsky: A Great Hesychast Father (4 of 8)

Dragomirna Monastery

Continued from part three...

3. A Spiritual Guide of Hundreds and Thousands of Monastics

Because the venerable Paisius felt in his heart the sweetness of noetic quietude and prayer, without seeking it he attracted near to him many people and monastics who sought this way of spiritual life.

He lived eighteen years on Mount Athos (1746-1763). At first he remained in a small hut near the Monastery of Pantocrator. "Inflamed with divine zeal for great feats, he enjoyed the quietude for two and a half years." Various monks slowly came to be near him, and they were forced to build another hut higher than theirs, then they purchased the Cell of Saint Constantine. The brotherhood consisted of Romanian-speaking and Slavic-speaking brethren. At that time, for the sake of the brotherhood, he was pressured by revered Spiritual Fathers to accept the priesthood in order to serve the brotherhood.

"Twenty brethren" gathered there under his spiritual guidance, and they moved to the Skete of the Prophet Elias. Services were done in two languages, Slavonic and Romanian, and for handiwork they constructed spoons, which they sold in order to have what was necessary and to offer hospitality to visitors. Metrophanes writes: "Our father performed his handiwork, making twice as many as the other brothers, and at night he copied books. His entire life was spent as an all-night vigil, unable to sleep more than three hours." His reputation spread throughout the Holy Mountain and many came to confess to him, even Patriarch Seraphim, who then resided at the Monastery of Pantocrator.

For a short time he went to the Sacred Monastery of Simonopetra with some monks, but because the Monastery was in debt they could not stay long there. Yet, with his way of life, he "illumined the entire Holy Mountain" and "all the Athonites marveled at the brilliance of his light."

When, however, the "brotherhood became numerous at Prophet Elias and no longer fit there, then God took them and brought them to this Orthodox land, in Moldova." Sixty-six monks followed him there.

The venerable Paisius and his monks settled in Dragomirna Monastery and underwent much trouble in its reconstruction, and it was put under an Athonite order. He regulated the typikon of the Coenobium based on the typikon and writings of Basil the Great. "In common ministries there should be kept silence and prayer in the mouth." "In the cells should be read the works of our God-bearing Fathers, and noetic prayer of the nous through the heart should be performed skillfully and precisely, and breath should be held with the fear of God, because it is the source of love for God and neighbor, as well as the source of all virtues." Every night there was a confession of thoughts, because it "is the foundation of salvation, peace, quietude and love." Over two-hundred monks lived in asceticism at this Monastery.

He educated them as a father and teacher in noetic prayer. He taught them regularly during the fasting periods, and at other times. "Every day, except Sundays and feasts, the brothers would gather at night in the refectory, they would light a candle, and their blessed father came sitting in his regular place. He would open a patristic book, either Saint Basil the Great's 'On Fasting', or John of the Ladder, or Saint Dorotheos, or Saint Theodore the Studite." Then he would interpret passages he read through his own spiritual experience.

They remained twelve years (1763-1775) at the Sacred Monastery of Dragomirna, where due to the events of the Ruso-Turkish war they served and ministered to a large crowd of people gathered at the Monastery. In the typikon of the Monastery produced by the venerable Paisius in 1763, "he foresaw that the abbot of the Monastery must know three languages: Greek, Slavic and Romanian."

But when the Germans (Austrians) settled in the Monastery and the Venerable One realized that he could not "live under the Papists", they moved with great sadness and pain gradually to another Monastery, that is, the Monastery of Sekou.

Metrophanes writes about the move of the brotherhood from Dragomirna Monastery: "We were persecuted by the Germans and on our own we distanced ourselves from Dragomirna Monastery, so that nothing would happen to our Orthodox faith from the arch-heretics and their secular authorities that remained there." Reflecting on the life they lived in this Monastery, he writes: "O Dragomirna, Dragomirna most sweet and the consolation of our souls, I remember our lives in you. Yet it is better to be silent lest bitterness fills our hearts for having lost you.... To us you were like a paradise of delight, you were for us like a garden that quickly takes root near water and the flowers give off various fragrances and fruits."

So from Dragomirna they moved in 1775 to Sekou Monastery, where they overly wore themselves out trying to reconstruct cells that the brotherhood may settle. The place was quiet and deserted. The situation of the brotherhood, after a long struggle of three years, arrived at the level of the previous Monastery and this was a cause of joy for the venerable Paisius and he glorified God. But Prince Constantine Mourousis urged and pressured the venerable Paisius to settle in Neamt Monastery. The Venerable One did not want such a move after so many hardships, but finally he succumbed in obedience to the desire of the Prince.

In 1779 a portion of the brotherhood moved to Neamt Monastery. New struggles awaited there for the reconstruction of the Sacred Monastery, which was difficult for the venerable Paisius and saddened him.

At this Monastery the venerable Paisius constructed a Hospital and a Hostel for the aged, the blind and the lame who would come and beg him to accept them and give them mercy. Here the number of monks, together with those who were in the Sketes, reached three hundred. However, towards the end of the life of the venerable Paisius in Neamt Monastery there had gathered around 700 monks near him. In the biography of the venerable Nikodemos the Hagiorite, as we will see below, it was written that the monks that were under the spiritual guidance of the venerable Paisius exceeded the thousands. Information indicates that at Neamt Monastery "there lived monks from a total of ten national backgrounds, such as Moldovans, Serbs, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, Turks, Russians and Ukrainians." The Venerable One reposed in this Monastery in 1794.

The venerable Paisius found the way of hesychasm and noetic prayer, so that his heart was filled with the Grace of God, and then he taught this life to the monks who ran to him from everywhere in order to hear the divine wisdom that came out of his mouth, yet especially from his heart.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

PART FIVE

"Christ Is Risen" in the Streets of Moldavia

Death of Infant After Baptism in Moldova

There are indications now that the child was sick. Priest in Moldova, Father Valentin, Allegedly Drowns Baby During the Child's Baptism July 28th 2010 New York Daily News It all went so very wrong. A priest in Moldova has been accused of accidentally drowning a 6-week-old baby during the boy's baptism, according to London's Daily Mail. The baby's relatives said he died Friday after the priest, who is referred to only as Father Valentin, did not cover the tot's mouth and nose when he immersed the child in water three times. The priest said he isn't to blame for the child's death in the Eastern European country. But the child's family thinks otherwise. "We couldn't believe it but we thought the priest must know what he's doing, but he didn't. When we got him back there was nothing that could be done anymore," the baby's godmother, Aliona Vacarciuc, 32, told London's Sun. "We all saw it. The priest didn't put his hand over the baby's mouth to stop water going in as he should have done and as they do at every other baptism," said the child's father, Dumitru Gaidau, 36. The baby died on the way to the hospital, Gaidau told a local television station. Dr. Sergiu Raileanu said the cause of death was drowning. Police have launched a manslaughter investigation. If the priest is found guilty, he could spend up to three years behind bars. Read more here and here.

The Holy Republic of Moldova

Valeriu Pasat is a former Moldovan spy chief who wants to increase the "fundamental" role of the Orthodox Church in the country while simultaneously bidding to become Moldova's new president. But Moldovans are asking who is actually promoting whom.

June 12, 2010
Alexandru Eftode
Spero News

“When Mr. Pasat puts his mind to something, nothing stops him until he gets the job done. And this is only the beginning.”

With these words, a well-known Moldovan journalist, Dmitri Chubashenko, who recently became the politician's spokesman, announced the start of a new era in Moldovan politics.

But who is Mr. Pasat and what, exactly, is he up to?

Valeriu Pasat is a former Moldovan spy chief who wants to increase the “fundamental” role of the Orthodox Church in the country while simultaneously bidding to become Moldova’s new president.

Last week, he initiated a referendum to introduce Orthodoxy as a compulsory subject in all Moldovan schools. To promote the idea, he plans to form a political party and run for president this fall, when fresh general and presidential elections might be held.

As Pasat joined forces with the Moldovan Orthodox Church, the dominant church in Moldova and a subordinate of the Russian Orthodox Church, questions arise about who is actually promoting whom. Will Pasat promote Orthodoxy, or will the Church promote Pasat for president? Many, including Prime Minister Vlad Filat and his partners in the governing Alliance for European Integration, are inclined to believe the latter.

Nobody can deny Valeriu Pasat’s expertise in the field. He spent years studying the oppression of the Church during the Soviet era, as well as the methods used by the KGB and NKVD (the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Internal Affairs) to infiltrate the institution.

Asked if he sees any danger that Pasat will use the Church to achieve political goals, the head of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vladimir, said the clergy is ready to take the risk. Or, as another priest, Father Vasile Ciobanu, puts it, the clergy “hopes that Mr. Pasat is a true believer, as he had enough time to turn to God and think about salvation during his prison years.”

Prison years? That’s right. Valeriu Pasat has had an eventful life since 2001, when he lost his job as the director of the Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service, a position he held since 1999, after his two years as Moldova’s first civilian Defense Minister.

After leaving the intelligence field, Pasat was employed by RAO ES, the Russian electricity monopoly, as the adviser to the president of the company, Anatoly Chubais. But the former Moldovan official never separated himself too much from his home country’s politics.

Seen as a threat by the former Moldovan communist government, Pasat was arrested at the Chisinau airport in March 2005 as he returned from Moscow ahead of the general elections. In January 2006, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His alleged crime was a decision nine years earlier as Defense Minister to sell 21 MiG-29 fighters to the United States for $40 million, even though Iran was offering $90 million. Later on, the communist government fabricated two more cases against Pasat, accusing him of an attempted coup and attempted murder.

Pasat spent more than two years in prison and portrayed himself as a political prisoner before he was unexpectedly released on July 9, 2007, and fled the same day to Moscow. He returned to Moldova only last November after the Communist Party lost the general elections to the Alliance for European Integration.

Eventually cleared of all charges, Pasat pledged to do whatever it takes to prevent the return of communists to power. But that did not “imply entering politics, Pasat specified at that time.

But seven months later, he came to another conclusion. “Without political power, you can do nothing in this country,” he said. So he decided to enter politics, even though that means challenging the new pro-Western government, not his old communist foes.

In a country where the Orthodox Church appears to be the most trusted institution, according to surveys, some analysts were quick to praise the cleverness of Pasat’s plan to use the referendum on compulsory teaching of orthodoxy as a vehicle to become president.

But others are calling the plan “immoral” and “cynical.” And still others lamented that Moldovan voters, who have been asked to vote with their hearts and their guts in the past, will probably now have to vote with their religious beliefs before getting the chance to vote with their minds.

While there’s some truth in all these remarks, it is also true that Moldova has had many unusual -- and innovative -- presidential candidates before. Some have promised to transform the country into a banking paradise -- a Switzerland of the East. Others talked seriously about using dried cow dung as fuel for Moldova's households to reduce its dependence on Russian energy. Valeriu Pasat could prove to be no more exotic than his predecessors.

Moldavans Rally For Religion in Schools

Moldovans Seek Religion

11 May 2010
Reuters

CHISINAU, Moldova — About 15,000 people rallied in Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, on Saturday to demand that schools add religion to the curriculum.

“We want to bring religion back to school after it was excluded by the totalitarian Soviet regime,” Metropolitan Vladimir, head of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, told supporters.

In Moldova, more than 95 percent of believers are Eastern Orthodox. The Moldovan Orthodox Church, an autonomous church under the Moscow Patriarchate, is the country’s main church with around 1,300 parishes.