An Angel with Broken Wings – Fr. Pimen Vlad

Listen to Father Pimen Vlad, who talks about his impressions of his pilgrimage in Romania, the power of mercy, and an angel with broken wings.

Enjoy!

Here we are again, my dear ones! Now that I am in Romania, I have travelled back and forth, and I thought to make another small video, in our forests again. I came specifically to the woods, being somewhere in Brașov, and I came somewhere in the forest, to be in nature. You know how much I enjoy filming outdoors as much as possible, in nature, on the grass, in the forest, or at home with the flowers, with everything else. And now I thought I’d go out to the woods for a while, because the forest is always calming, restful, and [there is] fresh air.

There’s so much oxygen in the forest, you feel alive! That is why you should often take your family and children to the woods, to play, to run, to breathe in the pure air. Running fills our lungs with oxygen, we breathe properly and this oxygenates the mind, the heart. We are functioning properly. Yes…

What I would like to tell you now, in a few words… Since I have traveled a little bit around the country… I also made it to Ceahlău this year. It’s very beautiful! On August 6th, around 2000 people climbed the Ceahlău, to Stănile Skete. Up on Ceahlău, [it’s] beautiful; His Eminence Teofan was there, the Divine Liturgy was served up there. Afterwards, everyone spread out on the grass to have a meal. It was truly Romanian, so to speak. All the people with love, many traditionally dressed, all were joyful. You should have seen elders, some in their seventies and eighties, climbing on foot, elderly women with joy stepped out of their city comforts, seeking to draw closer to God through this effort they made to get up there.

After that, [I went] to the monastery, to Sihăstria, at St. Teodora’s – because that’s where the feast day is. Again a wonderful service, I met wonderful people there, pure people. After that, I went up to Sihla, again to the cave of St. Teodora. On the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God [I went] to Putna, another beautiful feast day there. Lots of people there too, and even more were traditionally dressed. It was beautiful there, in that corner of Bucovina, the people cherish their traditions more. And there too we can say there was great joy.

I share all these to remind you of the wonderful places we have in Romania — beautiful and wonderful monasteries. Yes, dear ones, don’t overlook them, whenever you have the chance, go to the monasteries, climb the Ceahlău when you can, take your whole family. Pack a rucksack and climb up to the skete. Live and rejoice! Many of you work abroad, when summer comes, return home, don’t waste your time aimlessly! Rediscover the beauty of Romania, as we have wonderful places everywhere! Go out and enjoy them, for God has gave us everything: mountains, beautiful rivers, and the sea — there is some of everything!

Yes, and I was actually in Constanța… I will tell you something from my traveling around the country, from this everyday experience. I was with a family and we went out together – husband, wife and the children, a girl and a little boy, and we were walking along on the promenade in Constanța, in the evening. We also went to His Eminence Teodosie for a bit, we enjoyed it. A wonderful man above all, full of gentleness and kindness. It’s only when you know him closely that you truly realize that.

As we walked along the promenade, chatting with the family and the children, I noticed a man playing the flute. It was beautiful and melodic, with the tranquil sound of the sea, even if there were people, they were all walking around. And then I took out 10 lei and asked the little girl to go and place it in the donation box. She went with love, she was a wonderful little girl, and she gave it to him. We continued on our way, we walked no more than thirty meters when a man stopped me: “Father, please, would you accept this commemoration list?” I told him “Of course” and he handed me the commemoration list along with a hundred lei. I then turned to the children and said, “See, children, I gave 10 lei to that man, but God rewards us tenfold or even a hundredfold. Did you see, this man gave us a commemoration list, which we will commemorate, but he also gave us a hundred lei, exactly ten times more.”

We walked another twenty meters, further along there was an older lady, she was singing. She had a beautiful voice, she sang sitting on a bench and just the same, those passing would hand her money. I give the little girl another ten lei, and she goes again and gives it to her. Walking further, just five minutes later at most, the same man who had given me the commemoration list appeared, “Father, I’ve been looking for you, thank God I have found you!” I asked him what had happened and he replied: ‘My conscience reproaches me for having given you too little and who knows when I will meet you again, if ever. Please take another two hundred lei with the commemoration list.” I took it, hugged the man and said to the children, “Did you see, children? I gave another ten lei, but God thought to give me twenty times as much now, two hundred lei, and even through the same person, who had left, but came back running and looking for me.” This is how God arranged it.

That’s why I say to you, be mindful in life. Always give with love, without hesitation, with all your heart and then God, in His goodness, will reward you and give you, as it’s said, tenfold or a hundredfold back, for God is rich and full of mercy. Do you see how good God is? He always pays attention to all our kind gestures to reward us. And even when it seems to us that we were not rewarded, we’ll find on the other side, in the heavens, all these good deeds we’ve done. God, besides being merciful and rich, is full of love and is always attentive to us. But what do we do? Do we always thank Him? Are we the same [as He] or are we egotistical and think only about ourselves? We want things to be good for us, for us to feel good, for us to be satisfied, without looking around, as many people are suffering. They may not ask, but they don’t have [much], and they endure this, they are content with little, and we often have the opportunity to help them. Therefore, dear ones, let us not overlook when we see someone who is truly suffering.

Let me tell you another thing. Just yesterday, this Sunday – I’m recording this on Monday, I’m not sure when Fr. Theologos will post it, as he often asks me to send him more – I went to a small monastery for service. At the gate, I saw a girl in a wheelchair; afterwards I spoke with her, she was 18 years old. She’d had an accident and ended up in a wheelchair. Young, 18-years old. When I saw her I called her “an angel with broken wings.” Imagine, a young girl at the age of 18, with her whole life ahead of her so to speak, to enjoy it, to run – ending up confined to a wheelchair due to an accident!

We kind of know that one always ends up in a wheelchair when the legs don’t function anymore, after a spinal injury. I spoke with her and marveled at the joy this young girl had. Her face was lit up and she had a continuous smile, in her suffering, surrounded by hundreds of people at the monastery, so many young girls, so many dressed up in a more modern way, and so on, and she was in a wheelchair. Think of the many reasons she would have to be sorrowful and grief-stricken, in her suffering! Yet, I don’t think I saw a smile among all the healthy people that came to church that was like hers. It was clear she had accepted [her condition] and held onto hope that God might heal her anytime. She was sitting discreetly in her chair, and I asked if she needed help, what the situation is. Then she pulled out a piece of paper from her backpack, which she would show to people. It said she wanted to go to Germany to recover, to do what could be done in a situation like hers.

I mentioned about this girl, since we, being healthy, often complain about trivial matters, we are always dissatisfied for not having this or that, instead of giving glory to God, saying, “Thank you, Lord, thank you, Mother of God, that look, I have legs, I can move, I have hands, I can work, I can help, I can hug!” [Yet] I just sit there complaining, that maybe I feel a stab, maybe something hurts, maybe I can’t lift something and so on, rather than fully rejoicing.

Just today, when I came here, I was accompanied by someone – being with a family, I asked the gentleman to take me here to the woods, and drop me off, so I could make this video. Along the way, he spoke of a neighbor of his: “You see my neighbor, he has cancer, he has a host of other ailments, he has problems with one leg, he can barely drag it, yet, despite it all, he is full of life and joy. He laughs, not just smiles. He laughs when he rejoices, he lives, always doing something, helping people, aiding the poor. He is in a continuous joy.” Consider this man, burdened by countless illnesses. He does not live in vain; He rejoices, and he doesn’t just rejoice, he does good, and at church too, when needed, he goes and helps. When someone is in need, he rushes to help.

Do you see that sometimes illness brings us closer to God? But it is very important that in those moments, when we are having a hard time, we do not forget to do good, as I’ve often said, “Doing good knows no bounds.” Let’s do good and then God will always take care of us and the Mother of God will stand by us and be our protectress. Let’s be merciful, loving, forbearing, not wielding a rod or merely enforcing laws. No! Everything must be done with love and kindness. And then God will work with us the same way.

Yes, dear ones? I shall end here, and perhaps the Mother of God will allow me to share other things in the future. Whatever she will allow! Alright, dear ones, may the good God hear us, help us, take care of us, and may the Mother of God always be our intercessor, and may we never despair. May the Lord help us!

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May the Lord help us!

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May the Lord help us!

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