His Grace Nichifor of Botoșani officiated last Saturday, at Sihăstria (Neamț) Monastery, the seven-year commemoration service for Archimandrite Victorin Oanele, the abbot who tonsured Patriarch Daniel a monk.
“God has always had a variety of works throughout history,” said the Auxiliary Bishop of the Iași Archdiocese after the service. “Every human person has a calling in God’s history: a calling to fulfill one’s mission, to do a certain work.”
“During communism, God worked in our country through people who continued to confess their faith”, added the hierarch. “Here, at Sihăstria Monastery, elders like Cleopa, Ioanichie Bălan, Paisie made people’s hearts better and answered their deep questions.”
His Grace Nichifor affirmed that Archimandrite Victorin Oanele “was given the gift of encouraging people and the gift of leaving behind a monastery where people would find a good place for prayer and faith.”
The hierarch honored Abbot Victorin Oanele’s firmness in his work, saying this virtue is an example for all of us.
“Father Victorin carried the cross of being an Abbott, remaining steadfast and unwavering even in sickness,” said the auxiliary bishop.
“Let us thank God for his work, which benefits us to this day: this church, the stones we step on are all born from his thought,” continued His Grace Nichifor of Botoșani.
“We are a family and all families honor their parents and ancestors, according to the Lord’s commandment. Let us pray that the Lord repose their souls and fulfill their hopes. May all who have served Him and listened to His word be given courage, understanding, and real hope in this life and in the Kingdom of God,” concluded the hierarch.
Bishop Gurie of Deva and Hunedoara, who had passed to the Lord two days before, was also commemorated on the same occasion.
Archimandrite Victorin Oanele was born on February 1st, 1931, in Poiana village of Vrâncioaia town, in Vrancea county. He entered monastic life in 1952. Between 1972 and 2014 he was the Abbott of Sihăstria Monastery in the county of Neamț – he had the longest service time as an Abbott in the history of the monastery.
His service as an Abbott started in difficult times, during the communist regime when he benefitted from advice given by elders Cleopa Ilie and Paisie Olaru.
He was an indefatigable builder: after 1990, he founded numerous churches and monastic buildings. He reposed in the Lord on the morning of October 24, 2014.
Source: basilica.ro