In response to the inspired and persistent urging – akin to canonical obedience – from Dr Varsanufie, Archbishop of Râmnic, to examine a veritable archive, which the archbishop had kindly provided for me, an archive concerning Saint Calinic of Cernica, about whom I had undertaken to write, I discovered new evidence portraying this second great founder of the Diocese of Râmnic as a passionate servant of the Public Assembly in the Land of Muntenia, during the reign of Barbu Știrbei.
Admired, esteemed and called upon as a true counsellor in public affairs by the rulers Barbu Știrbei and Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the former had accepted and supported the Cernican’s decision to move from Craiova to Râmnic and to restore and even rebuild here the Diocese of Râmnic-Noul Severin, Saint Calinic made his mark in the spirit of European democracy as a true life-tenured senator in the Wallachian parliament of the time, his resounding speeches becoming part of the social history of Wallachia prior to the Union, and subsequently after the Union, under Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who regarded him, whilst he was still alive, as a great hierarch and, at the same time, a saint.
And his presence at the Assembly’s rostrum is particularly exemplary, with speeches—some of them thunderous—demonstrating the European outlook of a son of the city and a son of the Church, who came from the threshold of the altar to the parliamentary rostrum, accountable for the fate of the country and for the fate of the nation’s spirituality.
This is how we came across the anthological piece that we are publishing today in the pages of the admirable journal Martyria – not merely as a tribute, but first and foremost as a testament to the patriotic virtues of a champion of the cause of national and spiritual identity.
As will be seen, we are faced with a discourse imbued with a compelling message for Romanian Orthodox Christianity.
In March 1855, the future Saint Calinic was asked to attend the proceedings of the Divan Assembly and came to Bucharest, having spent the previous night at the metochion known as the ‘Methوحion of the 40 Martyrs’, situated right in the garden where the Romanian Athenaeum now stands majestically. From there he set off for the General Assembly, where he was to deliver these stirring words:
‘Alas! How grieved is my soul when I see how many blasphemers there are against us today, and indeed some who are notorious for defaming the Church, its forms and its morals. And as for our forefathers, who built holy monasteries and churches and endowed them with great revenues for the glory of God, they call them fools and ignoramuses; and they, believing themselves to be enlightened, defame everything and seek to ruin it all. They do not wish to adhere to any faith, to have no religion at all, and they want each of them to have their own religion.
It is our duty to show these atheists that they have gone astray, that they have strayed from the true faith, and to make them understand that nothing can exist of its own accord; that everything must have a beginning, a creator, and that this great Creator is Almighty God. And if they remain utterly hardened in their misguided views, it is our duty to keep our distance from them, both ourselves and the whole flock. And to be divided under different secular governments is the deed of those who subjugate the people, the deed of despots. And if these people oppress us and push us, or allow us to fall from one error into another, they do so with the aim of weakening us, corrupting us, so that they may drag us along according to their own desires, to make us their infernal instruments against our brothers. Yet the fault lies not with them, but with us, for we lack love amongst ourselves. Hatred, strife, the spirit of vengeance, selfishness and self-interest make us weak, divide us and bring suffering upon poor humanity. But unity makes us invincible; love builds societies, and love amongst brothers keeps them undefeated.”
