Father Cleopa

Shepherd of Souls: The Life and Teaching of Elder Cleopa Master of Inner Prayer and Spiritual Father of Romania (1912-1998) by Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan

This book is highly recommendable due to the great spiritual insight of Elder Cleopa, and the help the book gives in understanding the Romanian Orthodox Church’s history. When I became Eastern Orthodox no one was more startled than my Protestant, Romanian friends (whether Baptist or Pentecostal) who have been taught that the children they were raised with who were Orthodox had a spirituality that was ritualistic and meaningless. I have heard more than one Romanian express the understanding that Orthodox are people who cross themselves when they see a church, but whose religion goes little beyond that outward ritual. So, now I have a Romanian Orthodox figure to introduce them to (if they are so interested) to help them gain a better understanding of the depths of Orthodox Christianity that have been painfully planted in their country over the centuries.

Most of this book is about the life of Father Cleopa but the last chapter is his words and instructions which cause one to want to read more of this personal writings. Father Cleopa’s life was one of humility, suffering, discipline, and love for Christ and the Church. He learned the teachings of the Fathers of the Church while being a shepherd at a monastery, and he learned suffering from having to flee into the forest on several occasions where he remained over a period of several years to prevent being arrested by the Communists. Here are a few of my favorite short quotes from the book:

When someone wanted to take a picture of the Elder, Fr. Cleopa would say to him, "Look for a donkey, take its picture, and write on it ‘Cleopa’".

When asked by the faithful whether it was good to read the Psalter, Father Cleopa would say, "St. Basil the Great says that ‘it is better for the sun to stop its journey than for the Psalter to remain unread in the homes of Christians.’ Let us approach the Psalter like we eat a good cake. When you are hungry, you cut another piece and eat a little more; likewise do a little more work and then read another kathisma, or two or three, as many as you can."

Father Cleopa: "Have the heart of a son toward God, the mind of a judge toward yourself, and toward your neighbor, the heart of a mother."

"Let us have the conviction that every moment we anger God. Without this humility from the heart, we cannot be saved."