Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Regarding the land of our country , many people say it is the garden of the Theotokos (Mother of God)
But north of our countries borders , the Theotokos really leaves signs
On the hills of Herța , in Ukraine
In a place washed with a lot of romanian blood , Lies the Bănceni Monastery
In reality , only 7 km from the romanian border , miracles occur
God was waiting for a long time , after the hard times that passed , of persecution , of pain , of jail , of suffering , of martyrdom
There was a need , and it was time for God's comforting to come upon us after the many hardships that were suffered by our parents , by the Fathers of our Orthodox Church
The Habsuburgs , then communism and the persecution in it's prisons
Didn't make the romanians living in Ukraine forget about the romanian language and good deeds
Father Mihail Jar (jar=fire, glow) , or the Monastery's heart of fire as he is called ,
Raises and loves over 400 children from the whole of Ukraine
-I've been waiting for you with love and longing and impatience
-Let's see
-And how is Hlebușka ? -He is OK
-Didn't you boys upset him ? -nods head-
Hleb , or Hlebuşka , as the Father likes to call him
is one of the 400 children in his care
He feels the joy around him , only through his hands
for him , the world only has taste and smell He has never known the other senses
He is deaf , blind and mute
And as if it wasn't enough he has epilepsy and cerebral palsy
Father Mihail has thought him life's most important lesson , love
~ukrainian~ Not all the children are happy in this world
Our duty is to take care of them
Not all can smile and romp . They are meant to cry with sorrow and suffer .
There are not only satieted and healthy ones. There are also orphans , blind , deaf people , mutes
that starve in poverty and don't even have a home for theirselves
Don't think only about your life . Offer them your love and warmth .
The Father Abbot has under his care two monasteries
the one at Bănceni , where over 70 monks live
and at Boian where 120 nuns live
Psalm 119:35 -actually 118 in the Orthodox Bible-
The nuns are the ones that take care of the children
They are no longer orphans , blind , deaf or mute that live in poverty
Because Father Mihail Jar travels through all of the orphanages in Ukraine
and brings the children in the few houses built specifically for them
-I'm twelve years old. My name is Hristiuc Natalia.
-And for how long have you been here Natalia?
-I've been here since I was 3 years old
-Since you were 3 ? -Yes .
-And where did the Father bring you from ?
-From a ... I don't know... -Don't you remember? ~nods head~
-How do you feel here ? -Very good.
-What do you do here all day ? Tell me about a day
-I help my sisters (the nuns) , my dad (Father Mihail)
chant: "... why do you sleep in a home and I sigh by the road ? ..."
-Our dad is very good . God showed mercy on me and ... and sent dad to bring me here
In dad I found affection , love . He loves me the most , in this world.
-What do you like to do most?
-To be around dad , the most .
-We've told Natasha that what we are shooting , we will air on the tv in a couple of days . Right before the Resurrection .
She asked us to allow her to say something to the romanians , on the other side (of the border)
-Because the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord is nearing , I wish you plenty of peace , joy ...
The Fruit from Above.
-I think I was searching for them and they were searching for me
We've searched for each other in this world
I would add , a world of pain , of suffering
Because it was ordained this way in (my) life by God , so that God took everything from me
I'm not talking about gold , about money , about fortune
I mean "everything" when you lose your parents , you have no one left and your are alone in this world
I ... I think "everything" ... then ... you've lost everything , except your soul
Mihail Jar or , Archimandrite Longhin , as he is also called was born very close to the place where , later , the Monastery was raised
In his childhood , he remembers he wanted to work for free in an orphanage , when grows up
-But I've wept all my life , and when I was left alone in this world ...
I though I had nothing no help ,
And I was used to always to lock the door quick , to lock myself , so no one would see me so I could cry inside the house
And I would go outside in the noon , and watch the smoke going out...
...of the chimnys , at our neighbours
and I was asking myself "Lord why don't I have a fire in my house , why am I freezing in the cold ?"
And God didn't forsake us . I would find some sticks light up a fire
...put my pillow on the stove , wrap myself in a quilt , dressed up , sometimes with a hat on my head
...and oftentimes I didn't have what to eat . Once I didn't have what to eat for 2 weeks
and I was ashamed to tell someone that I had no food . And I asked againg "Why Lord ? Give me at least something"
In the fall of the year 1994 Father Mihail and other four brothers in Christ began raising the Monastery
One Sunday , after the Service , people were asking ...
why he bothered doing this
He began to tell , he was going by car , and before him (in front of him) was going the Theotokos (Mother of God)
And when he reached the end of the forest , there the Theotokos disappeared
He , without any fear , started chopping the trees down
And he started building . There was no electricity , no road , nothing .
Everybody , when he began building the first Church , the monks began working , digging , chopping trees having 2 or 3 potatoes (very little food)
And when he reached ground level , we were 720 people and in one day we poured the entire concrete
Then , little by little , the first Church was built
And when I got there I said "Did you give to the people something to eat?" and he said "I've just started cooking" and when we went over to see , he put the potato in the pot and it and it stuck to the pot and it was burning
And then I rushed to the woods and I gathered some nettles , it was in the spring , and with some potatoes I made a pot of soup
we didn't really have plates or spoons , and those people said they hadn't eaten that good a soup since they were born
With spring nettles .
But it was made with love and ... we lived the moment , because the people were starving and we had to give them something to eat quickly
This was the first monastery soup .
From 1994 till now , with Lord's mercy and and the people's zeal , 7 Churches with 14 Altars were raised
a bell tower , hermitages for the monks , many houses for children , and more that God ordained
The land is cultivated and more than 100 cows (cattle) are being farmed
Food is given not only to the children , but also to every pilgrim that steps into the Monastery from Bănceni
In the Eve of the Holidays tons of packs of food are sent from here to prisons and asylums for the elderly in Ukraine
-Christ is risen! -Indeed He is risen!
~ukrainian~ -Christ is risen! -Indeed He is risen!
-Christ is risen! -Indeed He is risen!
Father Mihail is praying to God to give him strenght , to do more for more people .
He is praying in the romanian language .
But at the Monastery the Divine Liturgy is held in many languages
Because God's Word must reach as many people as possible
-Oftentimes we have to hold the Service in several languages because many believers come from other lands
From Ukraine , from Russia , from Belarus , from Moldova
So when we know they are in the Church , we would like that each one hears at least an Ektenia or ... hears in ... native language
~ukrainian~ I came here from Kiev , from 600 km away
It is a very beautiful Monastery
And I would like everyone to know , especially the folks from Romania ,
that such a beauty exists here .
-We are not stealing God , like He is only ours . God is for everybody and He says "My Father's House is a House of prayer for all the nations" of the Bible
~see Is.56,7 ;Jeremiah 7,11 Mat.21,13 Mark 11,17 ;Luke 19,46;John 2,16~
Some have said that the several fires that broke out at the houses where the children live may not have been accidental
But Father Mihail is truly happy when he is having romanian guests
We are in Romania now , here , and if I come , I come as a guest , but I'm not coming in a different country
Because we are the same , the same language , the same blood , the same Faith that we know and the same God that we all confess
But they make us great joy , when they come to us . Big groups have came (to us) , (groups) of priests , of believers
You know that , whenever they come , they leave us strenght
So that ...we can carry on . Many romanians come to us .
We are always waiting for them with great joy ... because we were tied to ... our nation
to our language...
Even though we were estranged ... And yet ... God didn't let us be apart .
An unreal world , where , nothing is more important than love and Faith in God
Father Mihail Jar , not long ago , received the title of national hero
And the Monastery established for less than two decades received the name (title) of Lavra
The instant you step inside (the Monastery) you have the impression you are entering a Monastery of children
More than half the pupils of the Molniţa School are the Father's children
"Who really loves you , here , More than your mother ?
And who really weeps your pain , always ?
And who really weeps your pain , always ? "
-Before , I was called Iulia , the surname was Fericita (romanian for Happy)
Iulia is also called (named) щасливий , or Happy (translated) in russian .
She was just a few months old , when the Father found her at the Monastery's door , frozen , in a box of bananas
Her mother mother changed her mind , perhaps , and didn't want Iulia any more , and threw her
The name Fericita (Happy) was given to her by the same Medic that couldn't believe the girl was still alive after how long she remained in the frost , twron in that box
Now ...
-My name is Iulia Jar , I'm proud I bear this name and I thank my father for the love he gives us , for the kindness and care I feel daily
Iulia and 32 other children are called Jar , like the Father . Now he is not just their spiritual Father he is ther good (legal) father
He adopted them .
-32 , and yesterday I filed the papers for the 33rd -When ?
-Yesterday I filed the papers to adopt him , a baby that is without arms and without legs
So that no one takes him away from me , because that's my soul
So that I'll never lose him
-You've endeared that child
-I can't (anyother way) ... Look , now I came here from him . I can't (be/live) without them .