Father Dometie – chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit
An ancient spiritual settlement in Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania, Râmeț Monastery takes its name from the hermits who lived here in the past.
The stone church of the monastery is built on the Healing Spring, a source of miraculous water, which is still found today in the Holy Altar, before the Holy Liturgy, and from which many believers come to take water for sanctification and healing.
Throughout history, the monastery has experienced many hardships and trials, and was abandoned during the Second World War.
The one who brought this spiritual settlement back to life was Father Hieromonk Dometie, whom I knew personally. He was poor in body, with a gentle face and a heart full of kindness, a chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, humble and full of love for God and man. He lived a short time, 51 years, but, as the parable says, in a few years he had lived many years.
With his untiring faith and zeal, in a few short years he managed to make a deserted monastery flourish, both spiritually and in its administration, and to leave an eternal memory in the villages around the monastery, to which he was a spiritual father. His tomb, in front of the monastery chapels, is beautifully decorated with flowers and candles, which burn around him day and night, lit by the crowds of faithful who come to weep at his tomb, to ask for his advice and to confess to him as to a living person, unmoved by the loss of one who was a brother, father and spiritual shepherd to all of them.
On the marble cross above the tomb is written: “Archimandrite Dometie Manolache, 1924-1975. Here rests in peace, awaiting the resurrection, Archimandrite Dometie Manolache, founder and confessor of the monastic order of nuns of the monastery of Râmeț, Alba County, and spiritual father of many believers in the area…”.
More than 10 years after his death, his presence is strongly felt in the convent of Râmeț, and the nuns tell wonderful stories about his life, of which the following are helpful to portray the spiritual icon of Father Dometie.
“One summer,” says Mother Abbess Ierusalima, “it rained heavily and the stream in front of the monastery was swollen with water. There was no bridge over it, only a footbridge. It was a Sunday, and after Liturgy the faithful who had come to celebrate were returning to their homes. Later, Father Dometie, with his epitrachelion and phelonion, went to bring the Holy Sacraments to a sick person in the village. When they reached the bridge, the people walked slowly, afraid because of the swirling water. But despite all the caution, a clumsy woman slipped and fell into the water. Who could pull her out? Without a second thought, Father Dometie, dressed as he was, jumped into the whirling water, reached the woman, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her ashore.
– How could you jump into such a whirlpool, Father? – asked the horrified onlookers.
– But, he said, how could you let a mother drown and leave nine orphaned children behind?
– It was the weekend, Friday, said the Mother Superior again. The next day, Saturday, we had to pay the workers who were repairing the convent buildings. We needed 5,100 lei.
– What are we going to do, Reverend Mother? – lamented the Mother Superior. Tomorrow is the day to pay the workers and we don’t have any money in the house.
– Don’t be unfaithful, said Father Dometie, Our Lady, who has helped us so many times, won’t let us down now.
On Saturday morning, Father Dometie went to the nearby market to do some work. As he was leaving, the Mother Superior asked him again, worried:
– What are we going to do, Father? Today we have to pay the workers.
– Go to the Mother of God in the church, Father Dometie told him as he left. Pray to her with faith and She will not abandon us.
I went to the icon and prayed, said the Mother Superior, and then I went to work with a heavy heart. At noon, when Father Dometie returned to the convent, I went out before him in sorrow.
– Have you been praying to the Mother of God? – he asked, coming towards me.
– I did, I replied half-mouthed, but my prayer was weak and nothing happened.
While we were talking, a small red car stopped in front of the convent on the other side of the river. Father said happily:
– Our money has arrived!
A lady got out of the car and came towards us. We got to know each other. She was a lady from Bucharest, and she told us the following:
– We had great difficulties in our family. I prayed as hard as I could to God to help me, promising to give a sum of money to a church if I got out of trouble. God was good and helped me, and things worked out well. I thought I would give the money to the monastery of Cernica, near Bucharest. But at night a beautifully dressed lady appeared to me in a dream and said: “Don’t give the money to Cernica, give it to Râmeț, they need it there”.
I had never heard of Râmeț before, but I asked where Râmeț was and I came to fulfil my promise.
He took out an envelope and handed it to us, saying:
– Open it when I leave.
I took the envelope and thanked the lady, who got into the car and drove off. I gave the envelope to Father Dometie, but he didn’t take it.
– Go and give it to Our Lady, because She sent it to us.
We went to the church together, put the envelope on the icon, prayed and then opened it. There were 5000 lei!
With tears we thanked Our Lady for the help she had sent us. We had enough to pay the workers. We only needed 100 lei. But not long after, a believer from the village came and brought a prayer request with 100 lei in it, and in the evening we had 5100 lei in the house, exactly what we needed to pay the workers.
The good Lord worked a miracle for Father Dometie’s great faith and deep devotion to Our Lady.
He died during his arduous duty. There was another flood and Father Dometie went to the village with some sisters to carry the food and shopping for the congregation, as the car could not get to the monastery because of the floods. On the way he told the sisters that he had had a beautiful dream last night, but he did not say what it was. They arrived in the village and took the shopping parcels with them. Father Dometie took two bigger ones and put them on his shoulders and they walked towards the monastery. When they reached the bridge, Father Dometie sat down by the water and didn’t get up. The nuns took him home, weeping and wailing. The funeral was presided over by Father Emilian of Alba Iulia, with a choir of more than a hundred priests, and was attended by thousands of faithful who had to make a long detour because of the high water, which was impossible to cross. The other two confessors of the monastery gave him burial clothes, for he had only the clothes on himself. He had given all his alms to the poor.
A fervent faith, love of God and man to the point of sacrifice, deep humility and a merciful heart, these were the things that adorned Father Dometie’s soul. Not only for the parishioners, but also for the faithful in the villages scattered throughout the mountains, he was a father who was always ready to help them in times of need, sickness and trouble, for confession, for prayer, for Christian guidance, without mercy, without rest, day and night. He worked as a good servant of Christ and now rejoices with all the saints in the joy of his Lord.
(Pr. Petroniu Tănase – Humble Icons of the Holy Romanian Orthodoxy, Byzantine Publishing House, Bucharest, 2003, pp. 26-32)