Father Nicolae Grebenea – he spread light around him until the last moment

Time has no patience! A few more months on earth and Father Grebenea would have added a year to the hundred he had already counted. But his “veil” was fulfilled and the “Patriarch” went to live forever with the righteous.

I have begun this invocation with the above phrases because they belong to the one we are invoking. I remember that once, in the terrible dungeon of Aiud, when he was talking to us about suffering and its meaning, some of us, his younger “disciples”, asked him with some annoyance: “Well, well, Father, but this nightmare we are living, when will it end?” He replied wisely:

“Hey, my children, time has patience, a lot of patience, so it is appropriate that we also be patient. Let us wait for the fulfilment of the veil. But until then, we must strive to remain ourselves”. And he was a living example of that. For almost a quarter of a century, he was patient and remained himself. And when he was released from prison, he faced another kind of time, with which he was also patient. Another quarter of a century. And again he remained true to himself and to his faith. Proof of this is the following text he wrote in August 1997: “Against the dark plans that can be woven in various hidden offices, my nation can find the only support, steadfast and unwavering, only in God. Turn to Him with all your heart and with all your strength, glorious Romanian nation! Cling to Him, for He is your life! Search for yourself and be what you were! Look straight up to the light, regardless of the turmoil around you! And you will be saved. And you will be light. And so he was: shining and spreading light until the last moment. “He went out like a vigil lamp that had run out of oil, but he preached until the last moment,” a niece of his told me in the middle of the night, announcing his departure for heaven.

(Demostene Andronescu – Puncte Cardinale magazine no. 5/185 May 2006, page 14)