Last week, His Eminence Archbishop Ioachim presided at the annual synaxis of the abbots and abbesses of the Roman and Bacău Archdiocese and spoke about the objective that a monk must have in the third millennium, namely “to be a monk of the resurrection.”

The meeting at the diocesan centre in Roman was preceded by the Divine Liturgy Celebrated by the Archbishop of Roman and Bacău at St Parascheva Archdiocesan Cathedral.

A message to monks

His Eminence emphasized that monastics must distinguish essential things and treat life with discernment.

“A monastic must distinguish between the essential and the nonessential. Many nonessentials are thrown on the market, and we are often exposed to this situation, so we have to be discerning. When he reaches the intersection of thoughts, the monk must choose the path with the most crosses.”

“Every day we live in death and resurrection; every day is a day of death and resurrection. We must remain in the same obedience, in the same monastic vows that we must respect and in the same approach that we deliberately fulfil.”

“I am satisfied with the activity you carry out because most monks and nuns are aware of God’s presence in their work. If you do not have the consciousness of sin, the consciousness of self, and the consciousness of God’s presence in your life, you fall into an imbalance of life. Still, if you are conscious that God is present, you carry out your activity in communion and community, reaching communion with God.”

Monastics must be oriented towards resurrection

His Eminence Archbishop Ioachim urged the monastics to remain “in the love of Christ and under the blessing of the archbishop” to structure their “monastic identity, walking on the path of salvation.”

“Whoever is not aware that they are following the path that Christ indicated means that they are deviating from the goal for which they engaged in the monastic life.”

The hierarch explained that a monastic must follow Christ, “and following Christ means carrying the cross and the sufferings that come from the cross. Suffering in Christ does not disfigure, but transfigures.”

“The monk of the third millennium must be a monk of the resurrection because the third millennium began with a Sunday, a day of resurrection. A monastic must be oriented towards resurrection. This is a monastic’s goal and path: the path to resurrection, which passes through the cross, the path to resurrection that has as its paradigm the Resurrection of Christ.”

During the meeting that took place on Tuesday, March 12, papers were presented on topics of interest related to the Solemn Year of Pastoral Care of the Sick, including the paper of the nun Irina Nedelcu from the Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery in Diaconești, entitled “Healing of the soul and body in Orthodoxy”.

Photography courtesy of the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău