Fr. George Calciu The thing that impressed me most about Fr. George was his persistent cheerfulness. Whenever we met, he was happy, and gave me such a big smile that his eyes were almost squeezed shut. He would hold my hand and talk with me animatedly, as we stood in the nave of his church. He was full of joy, and I wondered how that was possible after such terrible suffering.
So I asked him once how he managed to stay so happy, given the horrors he’d survived. He replied that he had always been cheerful, even as a child. He was the youngest of eleven children, the “baby” of the family, and very close to his mother. He told me that he felt his mother’s prayers even after her repose, when he was in prison.
Once, he said, prison officials told him, “Your wife has divorced you and your son has renounced you.” He had no way to know whether this was true or not. He was very distressed, and said to his mother in his heart, “You told me you would watch over them! Now even you have abandoned me.”
But that night she came to him in a dream, and looked at him reproachfully. She asked, “How could you ever think that I would abandon you?” The next morning Fr. George’s wife and son were at the prison asking to see him, and assuring him that the rumors were false, and that they loved him and would never leave him.
Frederica Mathewes-Green Young mothers know that it can be exhausting to care for a baby, and some days the rewards for this labor seem very far away. But we should keep in mind that we are taking care of the child not just for that one day, but for a lifetime. What we do on any ordinary day lays a foundation of strength that the child will draw on all his life. We do not know where our children’s lives will lead them; they may have to undergo suffering that we will be unable to prevent. They may be somewhere far beyond our ability to help them. But in the loving care we give each day, we plant something for a lifetime. Each small thing we do can be preparing them to meet challenges that we cannot yet see. Fr. George’s smile was a testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit, and to his own courage and faith. But it was also a testimony to his mother’s love.
