Schemanun Maura of Mt. Ceahlău. Photo: doxologia.ro
In 2024, the Romanian Orthodox Church canonized sixteen male martyrs, confessors, and ascetics of the 20th century, and with 2026 designated as the Commemorative Year of Holy Women (Myrrh-bearers, Martyrs, ascetics, wives, and mothers), it is preparing to do the same with a number of women who are venerated amongst the people.
On June 19, the Synod of the Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina proposed four nuns for canonization: Schemanun Maura of Mount Ceahlău, a great hesychast hermit; Schemanun Nazaria, first abbess of Văratec Monastery and a disciple of St. Basil of Poiana Mărului, St. Paisius Velichkovsky of Neamț, and St. Joseph of Văratec; Schemanun Olimpiada, founder and benefactor of Văratec Monastery and a disciple of St. Paisius Velichkovsky of Neamț, St. Joseph of Văratec, and Venerable Nazaria of Văratec; and Schemanun Elisabeta (Safta) Brâncoveanu, a resident of Văratec Monastery.
And in a joint session with the Synod of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, Blondina Gobjilă (1906-1971), also known as Mama Blondina, a confessor from the communist period who was exiled to Siberia for 15 years, was also proposed for canonization.
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Schemanun Maura of Mt. Ceahlău
The skete at Poiana Maicilor today. Photo: poianamaicilor.mmb.ro
Schemanun Maura of Mt. Ceahlău lived at the end of the 17th century and in the first half of the 18th century.
According to tradition, she was born in the Bistrița Valley and received the name Maria at Baptism. Instead of following the path of marriage, she chose monastic life and entered the community of Silvestru Skete, also known as Schitișor, under the guidance of Hieroschemamonk Silvestru, one of the oldest hermits of Ceahlău.
After taking monastic vows under the name Maura, she spent her years in obedience, asceticism, and prayer. Among all Romanian hermits, she was known for her delicate image: she was often seen on mountain paths accompanied by a doe. In time, desiring a more secluded life, she built herself a small cell from wood and earth.
Later, she withdrew together with several disciples to Ponoare Meadow, at the foot of Ceahlău, where, with the support of believers from neighboring villages, they erected a small church dedicated to the Transfiguration and several cells. The place became known as Poiana Maicilor (the Meadow of the Mothers), preserving to this day the memory of their hermetic way of life.
The Venerable Maura practiced asceticism there until the end of her life, being buried by her disciples in the Meadow at Ponoare. Her relics, like those of many unknown hermits, remain hidden in this holy place, and her soul rests among the company of the righteous.
Schemanun Nazaria of Văratec Monastery († 1814)
Photo: doxologia.ro The life of Schemanun Nazaria of Văratec was from the beginning surrounded by troubles and trials. She was from Brașov. First she was married and bore two children. Then, when her husband died, she remained a widow from a young age. Not many years later, by God’s will, her children also died. Remaining alone and desiring to serve Christ, she entered into the struggle of monastic life. First she stayed at Scânteia Skete in Vrancea, where she was made riassaphore nun with the name Natalia. Then she moved to Bontești Skete. There she received the great and angelic schema under the name Nazaria.
Desiring a higher spiritual struggle, Schemanun Nazaria went to Neamț county, to Pârâul Carpenului Skete (Pipirig). There she met the great spiritual father Joseph the Hermit, who moved the community from here to Durău Skete, under Mount Ceahlău, where a renowned hermitage of nuns came into being. At Durău, Schemanun Nazaria struggled for 14 years in silence, in fasting, in prayer and obedience, becoming abbess of that chosen hermitage. And she was so gentle, humble and wise, that all loved her as a true spiritual mother.
In the year 1788, after the founding of Văratec Monastery, the Venerable Joseph the Hermit brought Schemanun Nazaria from Durău and made her abbess at Văratec. Thus, the humble bride of Christ, leaving tranquility behind, became the founder of a new community, becoming the first abbess of Văratec Monastery. And she led with great spiritual wisdom the assembly of the monastery, from the year 1788 until the year 1814. In this she was helped not a little by the Venerable Joseph, and especially by the Most Holy Mother of God, protector of the monastery.
After she formed a beautiful community of nuns with over one hundred sisters and arranged everything well, Schemanun Nazaria departed from this life, to receive the reward of her labors.
(Archimandrite Ioanichie Bălan, The Romanian Patericon, Sihăstria Monastery Publishing House, pp. 335–336)
Schemanun Olimpiada of Văratec Monastery (1757-1842)
Photo: doxologia.ro
This zealous nun was the daughter of a priest from the city of Iași. At the lawful age she married. But when her husband died, she left behind worldly cares and went to serve Christ at Topolița Monastery in Neamț county. There she was made riassaphore nun, receiving the name Olimpiada. Not finding peace with the monastery’s rule, she came to Elder Paisie, who after receiving a revelation concerning her, commanded her to seek, together with Schemanun Nazaria, a place for a monastery where they could struggle in silence, in prayer and in cutting off their own will. Therefore, taking the blessing, she departed to seek a suitable place withdrawn from the world. Finding a peaceful place in the forests of Văratec, with the counsel of the Venerable Joseph the Hermit, she began the construction of a wooden church in the year 1785. Thus was born the skete of nuns at Văratec. In the year 1787, the nuns from Topolița Monastery were also moved here, under the abbacy of schemanun Nazaria from Durău. Now Riassaphore Olimpiada received tonsure into the great schema.
Seeing that the assembly of nuns was growing, and the wooden church was becoming too small, Schemanun Olimpiada gathered funds from Christ-loving people and began building a much larger church. In the year 1808, the church dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God was completed. Also through the efforts of mother Olimpiada, a wooden church was built at the cemetery in 1817, in honor of St. John the Baptist, along with the enclosure wall and cells for the nuns.
Although Schemanun Olimpiada was the “Martha” of the monastery, she didn’t forget spiritual matters. She never missed church services, was first in obedience, and performed her rule and canon regularly. She devoted herself, especially at night, to reading Holy Scripture and copying the words of the Holy Fathers, for herself and for her disciples.
Mother Olimpiada’s soul was also adorned with humble thoughts. Several times, she was asked to be the abbess but refused, considering herself unworthy. However, in the year 1822 she consented to be abbess and spiritual mother of the assembly, which numbered over 300 nuns, and she guided the holy monastery with great wisdom for six years. Then, when the Venerable Joseph departed from this life, mother Olimpiada also withdrew from the abbacy. In the year 1834 she was chosen for the second time as abbess of Văratec Monastery, which she led spiritually until the year 1842, when she departed to eternal rest at the age of 85. Such was the life and labors of Schemanun Olimpiada.
Schemanun Elisabeta (Safta) Brâncoveanu of Văratec Monastery
Photo: basilica.ro Elisabeta (Safta) Brâncoveanu was born in 1776 in Iași, to parents Teodor Balș, who served for a period as caimacam (princely deputy) of Moldavia, and Zoe, who was from the boyar Rosetti family.
In 1793 she married Grigorie Basarab Brâncoveanu, the last direct descendant of the lineage of the Voivode and Holy Martyr Constantin Brâncoveanu. The two spouses carried out extensive philanthropic work from the considerable wealth they possessed.
They made substantial donations to Bistrița and Viforâta monasteries, as well as to the Orthodox Church in central Brașov. They also restored the Domnița Bălașa Church in Bucharest, built by one of the daughters of the St. Constantin Brâncoveanu.
Safta Brâncoveanu built the Brâncovenesc Hospital in Bucharest after her husband’s death and at his wish. The hospital was completed in October 1837, functioning without interruption between 1838 and 1984, when it was demolished by the communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.
This was established as a private hospital, supported by the estates donated to it by its founder, with principles of good functioning that lasted until its dissolution. The hospital admitted patients free of charge “without distinction of nationality, material status, religion, or male or female gender.”
In 1840, Princess Safta withdrew to Văratec Monastery, where she became a nun, then a schemanun. Her sisters Ecaterina and Profira also joined her. Their mother, Schemanun Zoe, had also withdrawn to this same monastery, where she passed to the Lord in 1833.
From the little wealth she had kept for herself, the nun continued to make donations to monasteries, including Văratec, Xeropotamou and Dochariou from Mt. Athos, as well as to establishments in the Holy Land.
She departed to eternal life on August 11, 1857, being buried near the great church of Văratec Monastery. Currently, her remains are in the monastery’s ossuary, and a statue representing her as a princess stands guard near the altar of the great church.
Blondina Gobjilă/Mama Blondina (1906-1971)
Photo: marturisitorii.ro
Blondina Gobjilă, known as Mother Blondina, was born on February 24, 1906, in the village of Grășeni in Bessarabia, in the family of Fr. Zaharia Popovici and Preoteasă Serafima. She became a teacher and in 1926 she married the engineer Gheorghe Gobjilă, with whom she had a son, Vladislav.
With the Soviet occupation of 1940 in Bessarabia, the two spouses were deported to Siberia, enduring a Golgotha of fifteen years of suffering. In Siberia, Mother Blondina experienced hunger, the injustices of detention, and forced labor.
She came out of detention weakened, but with her heart unshaken in faith in Christ. After her husband’s death in Siberia, then after her mother’s death, she received news that her son was alive and working in Romania, which brought her comfort.
However, her son and daughter-in-law, hostile to faith, forced her to choose between God and family. Mother Blondina chose faith without hesitation, remaining without shelter and ending up in Iași, where she found support with a Christian family.
Despite the hardships, she never ceased to serve Christ. She was judged by some for the humble life she led, but she responded with serenity:
“I am not ashamed to wash the feet of Christ the Savior.”
She left behind notebooks with notes about her period of exile, which she entrusted for publication.
Mother Blondina passed to eternal life on May 24, 1971, and was buried in the Eternity Cemetery in Iași.
