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This righteous father was one of the most renowned elders of this
century. Born in the city of
Zarnestzi-Braszov, he was first married and had two children. Later,
having the desire to follow the Lord,
he, together with his wife and children entered the monastic life. Between
the years 1890 -1900 he lived in a
Romanian skete on Mount Athos. He then returned to his native land and
spent nine years at the Neamtz Monastery
In 1909, he was named abbot of the Sihãstria monastery, an
obedience which he fulfilled with
dignity for 35 years. After completely reorganizing the entire life of the
monks in this hermitage, and
gathering around him 40 monks and disciples, Protosingelos Ioanichie Moroi
moved into eternity , reposing
in the early autumn of the year 1944.
His Deeds and Words of Instruction
1. Wishing to take on the yoke of the monastic struggle against the will,
the young Ioan Moroi
sought the advice of the great pilgrim George Lazar, of whom he was a
disciple. This is what he was
told:
"Stay for a period of one year under obedience at the Skete of the Caves
at Ialomicioarei and read the
Psalter every day. If you are able to endure the temptations of the evil
one, only then will you
become a monk."
And so he spent many days and months in obedience, and the evenings were
spent in vigils and
reading the Psalter.
One evening, while he was praying, in his cell in the middle of the thick
forest, an
unknown monk came to him and said:
--What are you doing here, Brother Ioane, and why are you humiliating
yourself so?
--Father, I wish to become a monk.
--You have fooled yourself. You cannot remain in the monastery .Even now,
your wife is living
with other men and has spent all of your fortune.
--From where have your learned of this? asked the young monk, very upset.
--I lived for forty years in the desert of the Jordan, and received from
the Lord the gift of
clairvoyance, and in this way I learned of it.
--What am I to do now, father?
--Return to your home and be the head of your wife and possessions.
After this, the strange monk approached the fire and disappeared in the
flames. He was a demon.
Many thoughts were running through the young Ioan Moroi's mind when he did
finally leave the
monastery and return home, and many were the trials to come along the way.
Later, he again saw
George Lazar, and he said:
"You can no longer continue in the ways of the monk. Remain for some time
now with your
family."
2. In 1890, the young Ioan Moroi made a pilgrimage to venerate the Tomb of
the Lord in Jerusalem. He
then went to the cave of the righteous monk Xenofont, and the holy hermit
said to him:
"Brother Ioan, did you come here to find a holy man? Never in your life
should you
follow any man, no matter how holy you believe him to be. For today he
will use you to his profit, and the
next day you will go mad. You wish to become a monk? Read the Holy
Scripture and the teaching of the Holy
Fathers and follow the counsel of their words, for from this you will
never be lead to delusion.
Know that you will become a monk of the Holy Mountain of Athos, and after
a few years you will return to
your native land and become a priest and the organizer of a community of
monks, but at the end of your life you will
have much suffering. If you have patience and forbearance, with the help
of Christ, all will turn out well and you will receive your reward."
This prophesy would be fulfilled in full in the life of Protosingelos
Ioanichie Moroi.
3. In 1909, having been granted the precious gift of the Priesthood,
Father Ioanichie was appointed the
hegumen of the Sihãstria Skete, which was like an untilled field.
His disciples would tell about 35 years
suffering all kinds of trials, impoverishment, assaults from the devil,
mistreatment from the people, and other
hardships. Because of the faith and long suffering they endured, through
the intercession of the Mother of God, this
isolated skete became one of the most well-known hermitages
in the Romanian land.
4. The fathers tell that from the very first day the celebration of the
Divine Liturgy was introduced into the
daily rule of prayer, as well as the other seven services, according to
the typikon of the Neamtz Monastery. He never
gave the blessing to begin a service until all of the brethren were
gathered together.
5. It is said regarding him, that he only served the divine services with
the utmost piety and while fasting,
with great faith and with tears. Especially during the Great Fast, he
never took any nourishment except on Saturdays
and Sundays. During the other days he subsisted on only the Most
Pure and Life-Creating Mysteries (Holy Communion).
6. This elder (starets) served the Divine Liturgy daily for twenty years,
with the greatest awe and love for
Christ, as he was the only priest and confessor of the skete.
7. The following was the Typikon for the Sihãstria Monastery under
the guidance of the Elder
Ioanichie
Moroi:
8. In 1925, when the New Calendar was introduced, Protosingelos Ioanichie
was much afflicted with grief.
He did not know if it was right to switch to the New Style calendar. He
then locked himself in his cell and began to
fast and pray until he would receive an Indication from the Lord what he
should
do. After 20 days of this fast, the old man was found in his cell, very
weakened. Then, having
partaken of the Holy Eucharist, and been given a little food, after two
days he said to his brethren and
spiritual
children:
"Many trials did I endure during those twenty days from the devil. I even
had the thought to
kill myself, and I beat myself with burning twigs. Then I saw before me a
legion of demons who said:
'Come, let us cut down the old man who wants to be holy.' Then they cried
out against me
saying :
'Who told you that you could become holy?'
"'But who told you that man cannot become holy?' I responded.
"On another day they said to me:
'It matters little that you fast,
for your life is still firmly in our hands!'
"Then I said to them:
'I place my hope in the mercy of God to deliver me from your hands!'
"After many more days of fasting, I saw above me in the air three saints
dressed as hierarchs
and recognized them as the Three Holy Hierarchs (Ss. Basil the Great,
Gregory the Theologian and John
Chrysostom). From the midst of them, as in one loud voice, they said:
'Ioanichie, why do you struggle so and not submit to obedience? Do you not
understand that
obedience is far greater than sacrifice? Therefore be obedient to those
placed over you, and do not any
longer question the revised calendar.' Then, after imparting to me their
blessing, the three ascended
heavenward, and I never saw them again."
From that day onward, the old man never again disputed the calendar issue.
9. One summer the well ran dry and the hegumen announced
in the church: "Fathers, because of our
sinfulness the Lord does not give us water for our well. Therefore,
we will fast and pray for three days and three nights until the Lord again
gives us water for our well."
All in the monastery were obedient to this penance.
In truth, as a result of the holy prayers of the Fathers, on the third day
the well was half full of water. From that day
forward, with the blessing of the elder, there was never again a shortage
of water in the well.
10. His disciples who desired to enter the monastic life were first put on
trial, to test them
[as to whether] they would be good monks fully devoted to Christ. Some
were not allowed into the
monastery and kept at the gates for three days and nights in fasting and
prayer. Others were given canons to read and
told to make prostrations to the ground in order to learn humility. All
were charged to collect funds for the
upkeep of the monastery, and were not permitted to leave the monastery
grounds, and to constantly
repeat the Prayer of Jesus to themselves.
11. While speaking to his disciples, he would sometimes say:
--Brothers. these two works keep always in your life: the cutting off of
the will and blessed
watchfulness. For he who does not follow these ways will never be a monk
and will never come to any
good. For we must be the doers of good, not of iniquity.
12. The Fathers also tell us that anyone who does not follow the advice of
the righteous elder
will meet with many temptations. Everything must always be done with his
blessing.
Once two brothers tried to fast and pray in the cellar without anyone
knowing where they were.
After one week they came to the elder and said:
--Father Starets. we beg you confess us for tomorrow we desire to receive
Holy Communion.
--And where have you been until now? asked the elder .
--We have been fasting and praying in the cellar
--And who gave you a blessing to begin this
fast?
--Do we need a blessing to fast and pray?
--I will not commune you until you have cut your disobedient
willfulness, said the elder .
For two days the brothers were both very ill. The elder charged the entire
community to fast and pray for them,
and he celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Unction and they were made well.
This was the
means that the two brothers were freed from their disobedience.
13. Another time, a novice of the monastery asked to be tonsured a monk.
But the elder
Ioanichie, knowing his heart, frequently postponed this tonsure. One day
the brother said to the elder:
--I am gong to Neamtz to purchase pencils and paper because some of the
monks have asked
me to.
--You will not go now, for it is the Great Fast and we do not walk
among the people now.
The brother left anyway and began to walk. After only about one mile he
was accosted by
seven spirits in the form of robbers, who began to beat him with boards
and say:
"Come, let us catch this one who has left the monastery without the
blessing of his elder." Out
of fear the novice ran into the woods. After, he returned to the monastery
, crying:
--Do not abandon me; seven thieves are chasing me!
The Fathers, seeing him so upset and possessed of an unclean spirit, took
him to his cell and
went and told the elder what had happened. The elder read a prayer of
intercession to St. Basil the
great and said:
--Release him and let him go.
--What if he should run again?
--The Lord has released him and is master over the enemy. And so the
novice was cured.
14. Once during the winter a brother left the cellar door open and all the
potatoes froze. Two
days later in the trapeza the elder asked:
"Who left the cellar opened? I ask him to confess now, in public." No one
stepped forward.
Then the elder
said:
"If the guilty one does not step forward, the Lord will requite him."
At that very moment the guilty brother fell down and confessed. They all
went to the church
where the service of Holy Unction was served as an offering to the Lord
for banishing the unclean spirit
from the man.
15. One day the old man was suffering great temptation from the evil one.
Then, after much
internal struggle, he forced himself to confess in the church, saving:
--Fathers and brethren, from now on I can no longer remain hegumen and
confessor due to my
great sinfulness before the Lord. You must find another worthy to take mv
place.
Then the Fathers
said tearfully: --Father elder, do not abandon
us poor ones and leave us without guidance. Let your sin be upon
us, we will bear it for you, only do not leave us bereft of your guidance.
--I will remain the elder, said the old man, but you must promise to
obey and follow mv words.
--We will do anvthing you tell us, Father.
Then the elder prostrated and said:
--You have no part with Christ if you do not walk and step over me.
All of them passed over ,
stepping on his body. That is the way that the old man remained longer as
the elder of the monasterv ,
and the fathers and brothers benefitted much from his humility.
16. Due to his humility and deeds, Protosingelos Ioanichie became a
well-known hermit and confessor in
that region. Many came to him for confession and spiritual counsel: elders
from other monasteries, priests, bishops
and laymen. He was severe in his penances, and for all he found soothing
words of wise counsel. The most important
rules for him were long fasting, prayer, reading of the psalter ,
and complete obedience.
Many who were sick came to him for Holy Unction, and returned home well
again.
17. When a brother who was provoked by anger came to him, he said:
"You do not show any desire to progress in the monastic life when you are
angry. A mind
darkened by anger can never judge and have the ability to follow the way
of the Lord."
18. To his brothers and spiritual children. he would
always say:
"Fathers, never forget the three great struggles: to have fear of the
lord, to keep your mind clear .
and to never cease to pray the prayer of Jesus."
19. Beginning in 1941, many evils and troubles beset the Monastery of
Sihãstria .First the main
church was burnt and everything inside was lost. Then the hired arsonists
returned to
the holy place and beat and blinded the elder. Then Fr. Ioanichie
remembered the words of the great elder
George Lazar ,
spoken to him 30 years earlier:
"I will not bless you for coming here, for at the end of your life you
will suffer greatly."
20. The elder told his disciples that one night, while he was lying in his
bed of illness, a woman
entered his cell and approaching him, spoke these good words:
"Do not mourn, Fr. Ioanichie, from now on I will take care of this holy
place!" It was the Mother of God, the
protectress of this humble abode of monks. Truly, from 1942, everything
was placed under
the protection and blessing of the Mother of God.
21. At that time, all of the monastery possessions -- books, vestments,
and sacred vessels -- were
gathered and brought to the elder's cell. Then the elder said to all:
"Fathers, do not be discouraged because the monastery burned. For this was
due to our sins and
to rebuild our support. Dearly beloved, suffer all indignities and do not
abandon this holy place, blessed
and sanctified by the prayers and tears of all who have come here before
us. Keep the rule of this
monastery firmly. Ruin will befall him who tries to change the way of life
here. In 1909, when I was
ordained a priest, a old monk from Neamtz Monastery approached me
and said: 'Understand well, Fr. Ioanichie, that I only stay here at the
Sihãstria, because the full typikon is kept, without the changes
found
elsewhere.'
That typikon is, as I have taught: no one may own personal
belongings, everything is communal; do not ever give into the passions of
the flesh; and never allow meat to
be eaten here. If one cannot follow this rule then he must leave this
monastery .For this place has never changed its
rule since it was founded by seven monks from the Monastery of Neamtz in
the year 1655."
22. Toward the end the elder added these words: "Hold fast to the monastic
way of life, and never neglect,
not even one day, to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and the seven daily
services. If
you do this, and strive for purity of life, you will have love among you,
and be
assured that the Mother of God will raise this holy place from the ashes
and cause peace
and love to flow into the whole region. Yet if you serve this blessed
place, through work,
prayer and fasting as befits monks, then it will again become a refuge for
those who desire to
live the monastic life of silence. For the Lord loves a clean and silent
monastery, not a place where there are
unworthy monks."
23. After two years of suffering, the Elder Ioanichie spoke
to his disciple Joel one night, saying: "On Tuesday I will go to the
Father!"
Indeed, on Tuesday, September 5, 1944, the Protosingelos
Ioanichie Moroi gave his soul into the hands of the Lord, leaving
behind a community of 40 monks.
Such were the life and sufferings of one of the greatest Elders of
Romanian monasticism.
Venerable Elder Ioanichie, pray to God for us!
Have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy servants the archimandrite Ioanichie,
the Protosingelos Joel, and the hieromonk Christopher; and upon the
translator.