In the extreme north of Romania, in a dream place forgotten as a long time, there is one of the newest and most mysterious pilgrimage places in the country. This is a museum monastery dedicated to one of the most important Romanian saints, built near the North Delta.
Saint John Iacob Monastery PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
The extreme north of Romania is a blessed area. Both through the richness of the earth, by the beauty of nature, but also the large number of contemporary Romanian spirituals and hermits. Three of them were passed among the saints by the Romanian Orthodox Church. This is why a journey to the North Border, in Botosani County, can become not only a moment of total relaxation in the middle of the wild nature but also an occasion of spiritual retreat.
One of the places to be unrivaled, a mysterious territory on the banks of Prut, is the village of Crăiniceni, the place where one of the greatest Romanian saints, Ioan Iacob Hozevitul, was born. On this realm, faith combines harmoniously with the spirit of adventure. This is the many tourists, including from the neighboring counties that come close to the North Delta, attracted mainly by the fame of miracle worker of the Saint who needed in the deserts of Hozevei.
To the gates of faith in the amazing north
Although many Romanians, from different areas of the country, when visiting Moldova, usually stop in Suceava county, as a terminus point of tourist experiences, in the Far North there is a fascinating, slightly promoted world, with a huge potential. One of the most beautiful areas is that of the banks of Prut, on the northwest side of Botosani county. The route is simple. Coming from Iasi or Suceava, the junction is made in Botosani. From here, through Cătămărăști, we follow the national road 29 B, through the municipality of Dorohoi, to the city of Darabani, the northernmost urban settlement in Romania.
After stops recommended in Dorohoi and Darabani, for tasting goodies and admired beautiful monuments, and even about three museums, holding the North Road, towards the border with the Republic of Moldova, from Rădăuți Prut, is reached in Păltiniș commune. In total, a road of about 70 kilometers, from Botosani. By crossing Păltiniș commune, it is best to keep an eye on the entrance indicators.
The Memorial House Ioacob Hozevitul PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
Once you enter the village of Horodiștea, on the left side of the road, you can see more tourist totems, and, if it is a holiday or weekend, cars with the registration name from other counties. Then you certainly got to where you should. In a valley is the “Saint John Iacob” Monastery, one of the newest and most important monastic settlements in Romania. The monastery was established on June 8, 2018, with the blessing of the Most High Metropolitan Theophan but also by the decision of the eparchial permanence. The monastery public was made up of nuns, coming from the important community of the Vorona Monastery. The monastic complex is impressive, especially by its rural beauty. The church and the cells are built of wood, in the old style of the peasant churches in Moldova.
In addition, in the center of the settlement, as you descend the more than 30 steps from the main road, there is a peasant house, perfectly preserved and arranged. It is the house model in which St. John Iacob lived in Crăiniceni hamlet, near Horodiștea. The house can be visited for free, functioning as a true ethnographic museum, with special objects from the popular household. At the same time, in the house, there is also the story, in short, of the life of the saint, photos with it, from different hypostases of life.
Saint John Jacob, from Iliuță to the Hozeva Sihastr, the man who predicted the apocalypse
Saint John Iacob Hozevit was born in 1913, in Crăiniceni hamlet and was called Ilie Iacob. He was the son of Maxim and Ecaterina. As a child, he remained an orphan of both parents. The mother stuck because of a disease, and the father died on the front. He was raised by a grandmother, and then by an uncle. “It was the orphan Sarmănel. The mother was a little boy and died. My father, Maxim, my uncle, died in the war. He remained alone, in the care of her grandmother Maria. At the other grandmother she could not go, that she had three grandchildren to raise, that their mother had died. Shadow on the ogor, and she was going to roast.he confessed a few years ago, for “Adevărul”, Georgeta Bajureanu, cousin of Saint John Iacob.
Santa Alecu is the one who carried at school and took care of his education. He was a smart child, dedicated to teaching. The uncle wanted to make him a priest because he was also very learned but also very faithful. Ilie Iacob was one of the most enchanting students of the Gymnasium in Hotin and then of the Theological High School in Cernăuți. At one point, a vision changed the whole existence. As he worked in the field and he was scared what to do with his future, he heard a voice from heaven who said “Monastery!” It was Ilie Iacob’s first vision. His fate was sealed. He took his bocceaua, took a blessing from the priest from the village and from Santa Alecu and left for the monastery. He entered the public of the Neamț Monastery, but then he felt the call to live like the saints in the wilderness. He always wanted to reach Jerusalem but also live in the deserts of Palestine. He finally saw his dream. Ioan Jacob, as he became known after he was a monk, wanted to live in the wilderness, far from the world, in meditation and prayer.
Saint John Iacob (left) next to another photo monk Sphinntisoicoane WordPress.com
He lived in the Qumran desert, then reaching the Dead Sea, in the caves at Calomona. His disciple Ioanichie confessed that Saint John Jacob leads an ascetic life. “Here they stayed for a year and a half, under conditions of very difficult living. Father John translated from the Greek the Acatist of the Assumption of the Virgin and finished on August 5, the day when Father John was to be.said Ioanichie in the biography dedicated to the saint.
Occasionally, he helps them, healing with his medical knowledge, all those who needed it. Without asking for any reward. He healed monks, even wounded Arabs. Ioan Iacob was an intellectual hermit, a special philosopher and theologian. He was considered one of the most important Romanian church scholars of the 20th century.
The most important work, which gathers the teachings but also his religious literary work, is called “from Jericho to Zion. The passage from earth to heaven”, published in 1999, to Jerusalem. Saint John Jacob was polyglot, speaking German, French, Arabic and Greek. He also had a vast culture, making translations from the Holy Fathers. He also had a prophetic writings, revealing the signs that will lead to the end of the world. “Bad winds, losing/threatening today/On the humble mud/who believe in God/beat the” crivatul “from the communist north/spreading throughout the world/” Dogmas “of the Antichrist/From the West” Austrul “blows/bringing with him” progress “/who gives birth to unbelief/ hitting the “Christ”/The black ones would be twitch/And at the sunrise/”Gog’s yellow wave”/they are frightened/with “Magog’s”/The apprentice of the wicked/I am terrifying/seeking to poison/the poor mortal/” end/The abomination of the desolation/He found the teacher/who go to people/To go after them ”said it in a series of lyrics.
In August 1960, on a Wednesday, in the depths of a cave in the Hozeva desert, he was dying, at only 47 years old. Only after 20 years after death, his name and deeds became famous. The body was discovered, powerless in the cave. “Father John’s body was whole, with a pleasant smell, with powerless clothes, the epithel and the whole sketch and the dry skin on the bones and looked as if they were sleeping, with a clean face, with the whole black beard, the pleasant face.”said Ioanichie, the disciple of Saint John Iacob Hozevitul, in the notes from the work “from Jericho to Zion. The passage from earth to heaven”. Saint John Iacob Hozevit was canonized in 1992.
“I pray and I feel like, as if, someone calms my soul.”
The miracles also made Saint John Jacob Hozevit. This is why, in the small parking lot of the Păltiniș monastery, I met cars with numbers from Iasi, Suceava or even Sibiu. Dozens of people came to pray to the saint. Including a family, with a child with disabilities. “Here, in this place, it is something special. We do three hours here, but it is too little for what I can feel. I pray, and I feel like someone calms my soul. From here I leave with the easier consciousness. As if I find a good friend who understands me. I also told my colleagues, at work. And they come.”confesses one of the women who came to pray to the saint. Others, hope for a miracle.
PHOTO COSMIN ZAMFIRACHE monastic complex
“I heard, from the word, and I also read, that Saint John Jacob Hozevit, a man of faith, has a great power. I looked on the Internet, I saw that it is a monastery here. I came. It does not matter how far. I think I will find a way to all my troubles.confesses another woman who came to pray. “There are people with problems, sick. Many come, especially for the holiday to pray to the Saint. The news was gone to open the soul and mind. Not necessarily miracles, but it seems, automatically, here you find the solution to problems”, Confesses a local.
From the Northern Delta to the Prut Ladies
After moments of spiritual recoil at the Monastery of Saint John Iacob in Păltiniș commune, the best thing a tourist can do is to meet the splendor of the nature of northern Romania. Also in Păltiniș commune, on the streets that descend, even from the village with the monastery of the saint, one reaches a true green paradise. An immersion in a wild world and, as if untouched by the human hand. It is the famous Delta of the North, a place where the Prut has divided into three arms, giving birth to dreams. Tainual streams slip under the foliage and tree, picturesque beaches and clear waters, complete the landscape.
The hidden arms of the Prut PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
The North Delta is alive, full of singing birds and life -like life, much more famous, from the mouths of the Danube. If an expedition to the North Delta from Păltiniș, is not enough, then the entire “coast” of the Prut can be explored, beyond the town of Rădău-Prut. Superb scrapes cover the banks of the Prut. From place to place, the arms of the river are detached, wandering through the trees. Here are the most beautiful places to bathe. Small, hot water and small wild beaches, where you can spend a whole day contemplating nature.
