Patriarch of the mountains. Interview with Mother Eudoxia, sister of Father Dometie from Râmeț
I rushed to Râmeț Monastery immediately after receiving a beautiful letter signed by Mother Eudoxia Manolache. With a neat handwriting, but above all with a special gift of the traditional Romanian language, Mother Eudoxia called us to share the joy of the memory of the great monk Dometie Manolache, who – in times of great persecution – revived Râmeți. When we found out that Mother Eudoxia was Father Dometie’s sister, and especially when we found out that she lived in his chapel, which has remained unchanged, we immediately got into the car. Obviously we didn’t regret it…
– Mother Eudoxia, how did you come to the convent?
In 1954, on St George’s Day. But before I entered the convent, I had many temptations designed to stop me.
– How old were you then?
I was twenty. I’m 74 now. But at that time I was thinking about how to get out of teaching; I was a teacher in Bordeiu Verde, in Galați, at that time. I offered my resignation to my bosses, but they systematically refused. All the while, my brother, Father Dometie, kept calling me to the monastery. After my confession to him, the verdict was clear: monk! So I began to pray to God, but do you know how? Like this, intensely! All night long I prayed, saying the Paraklesis of Our Lady to enlighten me as to what I should do. What tears I shed! I wanted a sign.
– And did you get that sign?
A year later we had a teachers’ conference. During this time I received a letter from the priest in which he said to me: “This is the last time I will call you”. Interestingly, that very night I had a discovery, dare I say it? I dreamt of the Saviour sitting on a beautiful green lawn and saying to me: “Follow me!” I came to a little house with Our Lady herself at the door. I venerated the Blessed Mother, then I entered the house where a table was set for His disciples. Then I saw Christ being lifted about two metres from the ground and He said to me: “Go to the convent of Father Dometie! And I awoke in awe.
– But to which monastery was Father Dometie calling you, since he had not yet arrived in Râmeț?
To Rătești, in Buzău; there he was preparing his nuns for the monastery he was going to build in Transylvania. All the time Father Dometie was followed and hunted by the secret police. When I was with him, he had an extra “excuse”: “I’m going to see my sister”. So I plucked up courage, went to my boss and told him I wanted to have a polyp removed, which I’d had since I was a schoolgirl. I thought I could get at least 2 weeks off work. The boss agreed on the spot because he also appreciated me professionally, especially after the conference he made me speak at in front of 400 teachers. He really liked what I said then and that made it easier to let me go. I left like a shot, he found out and went looking for me at home, in the village. He had a terrible fight with his older brother. Finally, after threatening to bring me back with the militia, he gave in.
– What did your parents say?
My father said: “Go to the monastery and see if you like it there. If you do, stay. If not, you can always come home.” I said, “Dad, at least if I’m eating the soil or if they put me in jail, I won’t go back!” And off I went. Dad was waiting for me at the station in Buzău; he was so happy! Then we reached our daughters, the girls from Ardeal, who were waiting for us in Rătești. When we went in to see them, Father said: “Do you know what I dreamt last night? There was a flock of birds in the sky. And in the distance there was another one, alone. It came slowly towards the flock, but it came!” Obviously it was a spiritual joke of Father…
– Where did he gather the convent of nuns from Ardeal?
From Prislop. There he had been confessor after Father Arsenie Boca had been arrested and politically deported to the Canal. Among the faithful who came to Prislop was a group from the area around Sebeș, including the present Mother Prioress Ierusalima Ghibu – Sister Onița, as we called her then. They wanted to be nuns in Prislop, but Father, who had no place, always told them to be patient, that he would build a nunnery in Ardeal.
– Why did he want to build a nunnery in Ardeal?
Here he saw a great need for an Orthodox mission. He knew the troubled history of Transylvania, how so many monasteries had been destroyed. As a student, he spent the summer in Sâmbăta with Father Arsenie Boca, then followed him to Prislop. He became a monk once with Antonie, Metropolitan of Ardeal, with whom he was a good friend.
– Who was Father Dometie’s confessor?
Who could it have been? The great Arsenie Boca!
– What year was Father Dometie born?
In 1924. After finishing his theology studies, Antonie (Leonida) Plămădeală, in a simple note, called him to become a monk in Prislop, where there was an order of monks. My brother did not announce his intentions at home because my parents wanted him to marry the daughter of the village priest.
– How many children had your parents?
Twelve, but five died of cholera during the First World War. Of the 7 who survived, there are only 2 of us left: me and my brother, a priest from Brașov. Our mother is also buried here, in Râmeț, as a mother. Father Dometie brought her here in 1959. He himself made her a monk a year before he died. As you can imagine, she had her own mother as a monk… My mother was a nun here for a long time.
– What was the cause of the death of Father Dometie, who was not even 50 years old?
My brother had a special voice. Father Arsenie Boca even called him Cucuzel! He didn’t spare his voice, he was always singing, you’d think it was a party in the monastery. He used to scold us for being sad. He was always cheerful because he was working for God. “What reason do you have to be sad?” he used to ask. “Where is it better to work for God than in the monastery? This state of joy was very important for our state of mind, for our prayerfulness.”
Does the Oblate community still follow these teachings?
Yes. The spirit of Father Dometie has remained here. So he was out a lot, whatever the weather. He ministered in these valleys to 7 hamlets, an area almost the size of Bucharest at that time. Sometimes he would walk for half a day, winter, summer, it didn’t matter. He walked very fast on the hills and he was light. Here he was, here he disappeared… He was like a flake. Walking so fast, he sucked in cold air from the valley. He fell ill with a sore throat, had two operations in Sibiu, but still died after 7 months. He didn’t spare himself, Mr Bucuroiu. It’s true, he had no help in the ministry. Where the new presbytery stands today, it was just a rock. They broke it with then use of pickaxes. So did the school and everything else. But the person he always leaned on was Mother Superior Ierusalima.
How did Father Dometie end up here in Râmeț?
Father went to see Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan, who was about 80 years old at the time. He told him: “Father Dometie, we have enough walls, but no souls to heat them!”
The priest understood and began his pilgrimages through Transylvania. That’s how he heard about Râmeț, and when he arrived here, he loved it. He felt like a patriarch in these hills!
A patriarch of the mountains!
At his funeral, someone asked the militiaman: “Sir, what kind of man was he?” and the militiaman replied: “As it is written in the book”. He also asked a monk and he replied: “50 priests together mean less than Father Dometie!” The people appreciated him, he remained engraved in the soul of this valley.
(Interview by Răzvan Bucuroiu – World of Faith, year IV, no. 7 (36), July 2006)