{"id":2211,"date":"2021-02-28T18:02:02","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T18:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/?p=2211"},"modified":"2024-03-11T17:56:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T17:56:29","slug":"christian-culture-ii-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/2021\/02\/christian-culture-ii-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"A Memory with Father Iustin P\u00e2rvu"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I have many memories with Father Iustin P\u00e2rvu, but I remember one in particular. It is a recollection that reveals Father\u2019s nature and spirit.<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

After a rainy autumn, with floods and landslides, we found ourselves late in the evening in a cell with Father Iustin P\u00e2rvu, five days before the consecration of the Monastery from Petru Vod\u0103. There were a few of us, all concerned about the success of the consecration that was to take place on the Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, on November 8, 2005, which is also the patronal feast of the church. The cold and heavy rain outside pressed on us, worming their way into our discussion, and all our scenarios and the \u201cdirection\u201d of the event were modified by the present climatic conditions. The narrow road to the monastery risked being completely impassable. For that reason, we went more with the \u201cemergency\u201d option, that for bad weather, than with the ideal one, for good weather. But Father Iustin stopped us:<\/p>

\u201cDrop this talk about the weather\u2026! It is going to be sunny, and everyone is going to be in the courtyard of the monastery\u2026! We ought to judge all things from this perspective. There is no way it is going to be otherwise\u2026!\u201d<\/p>

Indeed, starting with the afternoon of November 7, the clouds scattered from the sky as if pushed by a hand, and on November 8 celebration of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, it was as if the sun took over the reins of the whole manifestation. The more than seven thousand people who had come to the consecration mostly on foot, were bathed in light and warmth in the monastery\u2019s courtyard.<\/p>

Indeed, \u201chow could it have been otherwise\u201d?<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

And it had nothing to do with a vision but optimism. That\u2019s right: optimism!<\/p>

Optimism and patience. These were, in fact, the coordinates on which Father Iustin P\u00e2rvu \u201cmoved\u201d throughout his life!<\/p>

Without optimism, without trusting that God has given you the keys to all the possible gates and paths for a man, you cannot evolve. Without optimism, you cannot make it through the night between two days, and much less through the night of history in which circumstances pushed us.<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

The fallen man rises not by panic, not by despair, but only by trust, by hope. Despair makes you act like a beast locked in a cage. And the desperate man sees this world only as a cage too narrow for his fear, for his helplessness. Because fear is essentially helplessness. Make man desperate<\/em>\u2014seems to be what any conjunctural ruler of the world says\u2014and you will dominate him, you will subdue him, you will make him a slave.<\/p>

The man who hopes, who thinks all will be well, no matter the circumstances, becomes invincible. The man who knows how much he is truly worth on earth is the formidable enemy of any tyranny. The man who controls himself, rules the world.<\/p>

\u201cIt is going to be sunny! It cannot be otherwise\u2026!\u201d said Father Iustin, on a foggy autumn night. And it was sunny, indeed, as if summoned by a sign! It was not the weather that obeyed Father Justin, it was not the eye of his heart or mind that foresaw the weather, but the belief that \u201cthere is no other way\u201d overcame any inclement weather. Thinking like this\u2014positively, as they say today\u2014you can glimpse at your thought\u2019s end the miracle of God that strengthens you in faith and enlightens you with hope.<\/p>

Adrian Alui Gheorghe<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have many memories with Father Iustin P\u00e2rvu, but I remember one in particular. It is a recollection that reveals Father\u2019s nature and spirit. After a rainy autumn, with floods and landslides, we found ourselves late in the evening in a cell with Father Iustin P\u00e2rvu, five days before the consecration of the Monastery from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-2211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-icon-from-within-feb-21","tag-christian-culture","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2211"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2355,"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211\/revisions\/2355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfdumitru.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}