Tattoos, Scribbles, Fulfillments, Saints – Fr. Pimen Vlad

Listen to a beautiful message for young people by Father Pimen Vlad, in which he takes us from the topic of tattoos all the way to that of contemporary saints. A word of spiritual benefit!

Enjoy!

Here we are again, my dear ones. Last week I addressed especially children, young people, and I told you different things… those of you who watched. And I was also thinking about one thing that I forgot to say and it came to my mind along the way.

Many do not like their body, their own body, as God made it: pure, beautiful. They have a problem with this and they start to scribble on themselves. Tattoos on top of tattoos, starting from the top of the head to the nails. And we smear ourselves in every way, starting from simple things, from a flower, from a signature of a person that’s dear to us, to everything you want and is possible, to skulls, dragons, birds, you name it. What are all these for? Do you know what I think?

Usually, those who do this feel unfulfilled, they have other problems, spiritual problems. And then, they try to stand out in this way, because, if he gets all kinds of tattoos on his body, he’ll stand out with something. So it’s not a great thing that you get tattooed, but it’s a sign of weakness. The man who is as he should be, remains as God made him. He is satisfied with his body, he gives glory to God, he asks for His help, he doesn’t need to get himself all inked.

Because… Think about it, for a simple name, you’re young, you’re a kid, and you like a girl and you go get a tattoo of her name, yes? After one month, two, one year, you argue with her, it’s over… Later you find another, but you have the name of the first one, which whenever the other one sees, it bothers her. Maybe you’ll get married. Whenever your wife sees it, it bothers her that you have another name tattooed. You have to tear off the skin now, to remove it. Your children will ask you: “Dad, but that’s not my mother’s name, who is the woman that’s tattooed on your arms?” or who knows where. And another thing, I was talking to some; this ink that is used for tattoos, especially the one done through punctures, it enters the blood, it enters the body and you have all the chances to get cancer or other diseases. In time, it poisons your body.

What do we need all this for? I mean, we’re making a mockery of our beautiful body. If God would’ve made our body full of inks, with everything possible, with skulls, and other things like that, I am sure that then there would’ve been many looking for white inks to cover them. We are always the opposite, we don’t like what we have, proof of our inner unfulfillment. And then we try to cover it up with these things.

Problems come from within and there they must be solved, in our mind and heart, not through all these things because we hurt ourselves. It’s not a proof of bravery, nor of clever deceptions, nor of coolness, you name it, it’s not a proof of it. It is a proof of weakness, a lack of fulfillment of the soul. So you have to look elsewhere for this, to solve your spiritual problems. [Through a] spiritual father, through confessions, Communion, the connection with God, through personal prayer, participation in the Holy Liturgy, and slowly, we will see that we reach spiritual fulfillment.

We miss the presence of God in our soul because we push Him away through our things and then we are permanently unfulfilled. We suffer because we are not loved. We suffer from being unfulfilled, [thinking] that maybe if we have money or I don’t know what things, we will surely be satisfied or fulfilled. No, dear ones, we will never be fulfilled. And I think I’ve said it before, I don’t know, but in any case I’ll repeat it. The richest man in India was interviewed and they asked him: “Are you happy? What is your situation? When have you started to become happy?” He would relate he started the first businesses and he raised, I don’t know, 1,000,000 euros and he said, “I was unfulfilled, unhappy. After that, I started to gather something else because I saw others had 10 million, 100 million, I don’t know how many billions, until I became the richest man in India, but I still felt dissatisfied, unhappy and unfulfilled, although, materially, I had everything, but inside I was empty, as if I was missing something.” And he says, “Once, a friend of mine told me: ‘Since you have so much money, do some good. Look, there is a center someplace with 200 children with disabilities who cannot walk and need wheelchairs. Won’t you buy them 200 wheelchairs?’ ‘Of course, take the money.’ “But please do one thing,’ said the other, ‘I want you to give the wheelchairs to the children yourself.'” He said, “Okay, I will come.”

He bought modern, automatic wheelchairs, with buttons so that they could move on their own. When he started handing the wheelchairs to the children, he could see the joy in the eyes of those children who had these problems. When he put them in the wheelchair and they saw they could move on their own, they started playing with each other, it was a big hall, honking, playing, joy in their eyes, they simply all glowed with joy, that they were given something. And one of the children, when he put him in the wheelchair, grabbed his legs with his arms and did not want to let him go. Then the man leaned over and asked him “Do you need anything else, kid? What do you want me to do for you?” And he looked in his eyes and replied: “I want to remember your face so when I get to Heaven to thank you then too.” Yes, and the rich man began to cry and said: “Only then did I feel fulfilled, happy, when I saw the happiness in the eyes of children with problems and I saw them happy.” I mean, for them it was like there were no more problems, just because of this gesture which, at his level, was an insignificant one.

Yes, dear ones, do you see where happiness and fulfillment come from? Did you understand from what I said? Not when you accumulate and you have, but when you give, when you do good. This man, by doing good, he felt joy in his heart. This is what we should feel every day. But what does this mean? To offer every day a kind word, a gesture of love, of something, of help. To offer everything we can, in all respects, and then we’ll be fulfilled and happy.

I will keep it brief about these things, I was thinking about one more thing. This upcoming Sunday, is the Sunday of the Romanian Saints. Did you understand? Of the Romanian Saints. There are many saints in this world. Millions and millions, maybe even billions. Some of them have been included in the calendar, so that we remember them and honor them every day. But there are many, many more. And as I call them, the Saints are our friends. The more friends we have, the more help we get. What does it mean to have friends? It’s not enough to say we are friends. Friends meet each other. Friends talk to each other. Friends respect each other. If it’s one’s birthday, they go to his birthday, right? So, when a saint is celebrated, if you say that he is your friend, you go to church from the beginning of the service, you also go in the evening, if there are vespers, or vigil, you stay there because it is your friend’s day. Next day, at the Liturgy, you confess, you Commune, to rejoice, to talk to your friend, you honor him. Then he honors and helps you too.

So, we prove our friendship, we can’t just ask [for things], I say that the saint is my friend and I just ask him [for things]. No, I have to show proof of my friendship too, did you understand? We have so many saints, how do we show friendship? In addition, we have the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. She is the Crown of the Saints, meaning, She gave birth to the Savior. So, you can imagine, She is above all, has the highest honor, and after that She is followed by the Synaxis of Saints. Every time when She intercedes for us, when she asks the Savior for something, she asks, but along with her come all the saints and bow down before the Savior and they’re asking too, to persuade Him and in this way their prayers are always answered and especially those of the Mother of God.

Yes, dear ones! And we, Romanians, have many saints! Just think, starting from the very first centuries. Holy Relics are still found at Niculițel or elsewhere, Holy Relics from the first centuries of Christians. So, there were a lot of martyrs in our country as well. After that, we have Saint Dionysius Exiguus, who, think that at that time, in the first centuries of Christianity, the Pope of Rome sent for him, at that time there was only one Church, in 1054 they separated. He sent for him to come to Rome. Think about the wisdom he had. He knew many languages and the Grace of God was upon him. He had become famous as far as Rome. There was no television, no internet, telephones, cars, planes did not exist. By word of mouth the news got over there, that he was a man with a holy life and was called to Rome. He is the one who compiled the first statistics, he introduced a new calendar system based on the birth of the Savior. So, he contributed to that, given the wisdom he had. Romanian saints.

We also have Saint John the Wallachian and many other saints who are from there, from our area. We have many more Holy Relics: Saint John of Suceava, The Venerable Paraskeva, Saint Demetrius of Basarabov, Saint Philothea, we have some at Timisoara, at Tismana, everywhere. So our country is full of saints, our friends. We have thousands and thousands and thousands of saints. Do you realize how many have died defending the country? They became martyrs. Why? Because they did not go harm anyone, but they defended their piece of land, their family, their faith and nation. They fought for this and died and went to Heaven. Because they did not harm anyone, they just defended. Think about the fact that the soil of our country is soaked in the blood of martyrs and heroes. We are a nation like few are and I don’t say this in vain. We have never gone to persecute anyone, never went to steal their land, to enlarge our own country. But if we look at our neighbors, almost all of them, when they had the opportunity, they tore pieces from our country, they fought to tear us in every way, and we just minded our own business.

What has kept us, what helped us? The connection with God, with the Mother of God and with Saints. Man in his simplicity was asking for God’s help, was asking for the Mother of God’s help, the help of the saints who died there, who were sacrificed there, who struggled there. And you should know that due to them, our country as it is, is preserved no matter how much the world’s leaders try to fight or tear it down, to bite out of it with their teeth if possible. To cover up our martyrs.

Especially during the communist period, Heaven has been filled again with thousands and thousands of saints, tortured there as they have never been before, not even in the first centuries, we can say, literally chopped, and Heaven was filled with saints. And you see how much of a global fight there is to knock us down —just so we don’t end up adding them to the calendar! To pin something on them, that they hated I don’t know who, that they persecuted I don’t know who, just so that they don’t end up in the calendar. And all this because, without realizing it in their own time, those in the shadows have contributed to their murder and now it bothers them. That is, “We wanted to erase them, to take them out of here and now these people ended up in Heaven, and not only that, but in the calendar and in people’s consciousness.” So, do you realize how God works? How He works through saints, through the Mother of God, and never leaves us. That is why we should never be ashamed of our nation, because we come from a nation of saints, a nation of heroes, a nation that has always minded its own business, its own poverty, its own needs and of everything it had without harming anyone.

That’s why you should have a sort of national pride. It’s not stupid to be proud of your people, no. Our nation was born, we could say, Christian, and not only was it born Christian, but researchers have been making different discoveries from 3000 years, from 4,000 years ago, and more, showing that we were there and not only were we there, but we were a people who had reached a certain level. All kinds of ceramics are discovered, all kinds of objects that show that people were at a certain level at that time and managed to do different things, to live there as a nation. And we are often ashamed now. “I’m ashamed to say I’m Romanian!” How can you be ashamed? When we look around at all the nations, apart from the Greeks, they were all migratory peoples that emerged after a series of years. Each from different tribes. We have deep roots there.

And think about it, during the period when they were under the Turks, all the surrounding countries were Turkish pashalaks, only we maintained our place, no matter what we went through. We paid tribute to them and whatnot, but we maintained our place there, God permanently raised up people who devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves, fought and even died for the country. So that’s what I want to tell you; be proud to be Romanians, no matter what corner of the world you go to, don’t be ashamed. With your head held high. “Yes, I am Romanian!” And if we look, up until our times, how many geniuses Romania has given. And at the current time, how many Romanians abroad [are well-regarded], how many things have been invented by Romanians, geniuses like Eminescu and many others. Capable people, which we still have to this day. That’s why, as I’ve said, head held high!

And another thing I’ve seen: The youth don’t listen, almost at all, to Romanian music anymore. All are in English and other languages. I was talking to someone who had some kind of banquet at the end of the year and he told me that each child had chosen a song. “And what did you choose?” Well of course he said, in English or other languages, not even one of them had chosen a song in Romanian. They were ashamed to choose in Romanian; they all thought they were cool if they chose one in I don’t know what language. What have we gotten to?

Young people, be careful what you do, don’t forget that you are Romanians! Don’t rush to go abroad [because of] I don’t know what studies, it’s a disaster. I constantly receive messages, letters, from mothers whose children have gone abroad, who, let’s say, are shedding many tears, their life was destroyed. They left as pure children and went crazy. Either they didn’t come back, or they totally destroyed their lives, if not through drugs, they started to partner boys with boys, girls with girls and they destroyed their own lives. This is what being abroad taught them. It seems to you that you are going to learn who knows what there. You learn nothing. [Nothing of what you] learn in your own Orthodox country, where you also have the church nearby, you have good models around. Setting the other part aside, you won’t learn these anywhere else. There are these beautiful things that are taught at home, not somewhere else, not in I don’t know what countries, in I don’t know what universities. We have good universities in Romania as well.

That’s why I started from our saints. We have many saints, you have also seen the calendar is full, wonderful saints who work many wonders. Go to St. Paraskeva and talk to people, see how many miracles are worked there.  Students and pupils, whenever they go to exams, are helped. To St. Demetrius, to St. Philothea, to St. John and to many other saints. So keep in touch with them, because they will go on to God and intercede. And as I’ve said, let’s be proud of our country, let’s love it, let’s support it, let’s not tear it down because too many people from the outside are fighting to tear it down, helped by people from the inside. Many of them may only have a Romanian name or not even the name and of course it doesn’t hurt them and they don’t care, they do their job, they take their money and move on, but they don’t care what happens to the country. So, love your country, defend it, help it with everything you can because when we go to God we will be held accountable for this matter also: what have we done for our people? Apart from what we have personally done with our soul, what we have done for our family? How have we stood by our people? Did we support it, did we stand by it, did we fight for the improvement of the country? That is, for a beautiful and normal life, not in mockery like the laws coming now for which life imprisonment used to be served, and now is legalized. So, let’s support beautiful things, starting within the family, and then in schools.

Teachers, you have a great duty, what you do and how you educate children! And then from there in all positions. And as I said, let’s honor our saints. There should be no school or classroom without an icon with the Mother of God, with the Savior in her arms especially, on the walls, or in certain places with different saints such as: The Three Holy Hierarchs, St. Catherine, and many other saints. In this way we will also receive help. And the children, during difficult moments, at exams, have somewhere to look, at the icon and ask for help. Alright, dear ones?

Pay attention to what I have told you and be careful, do not be influenced by everything that is mass-media, which constantly says that we are a worthless country, that people do only bad things, that we have nothing good, that we are… No! All these are manipulations. We have a wonderful country, a beautiful country, a rich country. Everywhere you dig, you find something good. That is why many are threatening it. Because they have plenty to steal from it. It has been robbed for so many thousands of years and it is still being robbed.

So, hold on to our country with all your might, don’t run abroad anymore, because that’s not where the escape is. For a mere penny you actually destroy your family, you destroy your children who live there and are influenced by all those things. Think carefully about what you are doing, honor, as I’ve said, your country, your saints, your nation and everything Romanian!

May the Mother of God and all the saints help us and intercede before the good God for us! May God help us!

Online commemoration lists and donations

May the Lord help us!

Online Commemoration Lists and Donations

May the Lord help us!

If you have a bank card and wish to send commemoration lists and donations online using your card, and/or to support our philanthropic activity, including this site, please fill out the form below to make a small donation. The form is secure – we use Stripe for payment processing – a world leader in this field. We do not collect your personal data.

If you do not have a card, or do not wish to use it, visit the webpage for Online Donations and Commemoration Lists.

We will pray for your loved ones! (Please do not include inessential details like wishes, degree of kinship, introductions etc. JUST the name!)

Especially for recurring commemoration lists, we ask that you please keep them to under 20 names long. If you include a member of the family, we add “and for their families.”

Pomelnice online și donații

Doamne ajută!

Dacă aveți un card și doriți să trimiteți pomelnice online și donații folosind cardul dumneavoastră, sau/și să susțineți activitatea noastră filantropică, inclusiv acest site, vă rugăm să introduceți datele necesare mai jos pentru a face o mică donație. Forma este sigură – procesatorul de carduri este Stripe – leader mondial în acest domeniu. Nu colectăm datele dvs. personale.

Dacă nu aveți card sau nu doriți să-l folosiți, accesați Pagina de donații și Pomelnice online .

Ne rugăm pentru cei dragi ai dumneavoastră! (vă rugăm nu introduceți detalii neesențiale precum dorințe, grade de rudenie, introduceri etc. Treceți DOAR numele!)

Mai ales pentru pomelnicele recurente, vă rugăm să păstrați pomelnicele sub 20 de nume. Dacă puneți un membru al familiei, noi adăugăm „și familiile lor”.

Dumnezeu să vă răsplătească dragostea!