Petru Voda Women’s Monastery. In the middle of Moldavia is an ancient village with a 93 year old Spirit Bearing Starets (elder), Father Iustin Parvu. He suffered for 17 years in torture and prison with Fr. George Calciu, Richard Wurmbrand, and so many others. But now he is filled with grace, a living gift, providing answers to life’s dilemmas and untying the knots in the souks of those that come to him. He starts at 6 in the evening and pours out his soul meeting with thirsty souls till early morning. Here there are 160 nuns with a nursing home for retired nuns and women, an herbal medicine laboratory, a beautiful wood built church, a surrounding village, the men’s monastery not far away. They grow their own food, develop their own medicine from very old recipes, build their own houses, structures, care for their animals and share God’s peace together. The inner work of each soul is manifest in the collective love and peace you feel both in the sheer beauty of the place and the smiles nd energy reflected through each soul. I felt a sense of sadness as I left Moldavia, wondering when I’ll return. What was given me here will endure and I trust be translated in our context to the many in need.
