Beyond helplessness there are still hope and solidarity! Monday night, the cells and refectory of Vărzăreşti Monastery, Romania – historical monument code LMI VN-II-a-B-06542 were destroyed by fire. The fire started due to a lightened butter lamp. It was a bright evening and the nuns had gone to harvest the hay. Around 11 pm, when the fire burst out, the nuns were still in the field. They saw the huge flame and came quickly to the monastery. They called the firemen, who got there as soon as possible…still too late. The cells, made by wood, OSB – oriented strand board - and plasterboard, had been built on the foundation of the old monastery cells. Now, there are only ashes and the foundation… “They were burning as if somebody up in the sky had been pouring gas oil and set up the fire”, said the abbess, Juvenalia Lupu. After a hardship night, the sun was up again. The dawns of a new day... only the cells were missing. Just a pile of burnt wood and twisted iron beams – the plasterboard metallic frames - are left. Some parishioners who heard about the disaster and the monk who renders the religious services in the monastery were picking up remains from the ashes. They got a few half burnt religious books from under the burnt out wood, and that is all. The abbess was interrogated by the firemen and the police in the morning. She also told us – me, my workmate, Maria Bunghez - Vrancea Directorate for Culture, and Ciprian Dumitru – Vrancea Journal – what happened on the night of July 22nd. Fortunately, the two churches – The church bearing the name of the great feast of “the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” and the one having “St. George” as patron (vrancea.djc.ro/ObiectiveDetalii.aspx?ID=822) – were not damaged by fire. Neither was the walnut tree in front of the cells, as if the fire had avoided it. Vărzăreşti Monastery was built 400 years ago. After World War II, it was owned by the communist CAP – collective agricultural institution, but it survived. It also survived this blaze. I left Vărzăreşti Monastery (manastireavarzaresti.ro/) feeling deeply helpless. The fire destroyed part of the beauty of a 400-year-old holy place, but I’m hoping that you, my (virtual) friends, will help this place to rebuilt, forwarding this sad story to your friends. A like & share are welcome, but a donation to the account opened by the monastery with BCR – the National Bank of Romania, Vrancea branch, would be a really great support for the five souls who tonight will sleep on hay made pillows under the sky. Donations can be sent to the following account: : RO59RNCB0267072266060001 – Manastirea Varzaresti - BCR (Banca Comerciala Romana) - Swift Code: RNCBROBU. Thanks to the editor of this article, Traian Negulescu, as well as to the translator into English, Claudia Dragu, and to all of you who contribute to the reconstruction of the monastery!!!
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 14:50:55 +0000
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