The word of God highlights the true expression of faith as well as the difficulty of orphanhood, saying:
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27
It points out the need to support orphans and widows. Saint Chrysostom inspiringly states:
Indeed, there is nothing more painful than orphanhood, when age is not enough for anything for the orphans, and there are no true protectors, and crowds of people appear ready to attack and stud them, and the orphans are exposed like lambs among wolves, who on every side devour them and tear them to pieces. No one can represent in words the magnitude of this calamity. Therefore Paul, after carefully searching for a word indicative of the desolation and painful calamity, to represent that he was suffering separated from his loved ones, used the word “orphaned”
E.P.E. vol. 37, pp. 423-425
In accordance with the apostolic and patristic exhortations, our Fraternity has always focused on the support of orphanages and youth in general. Pro Vita is one of the orphanages that we have been actively supporting for more than 15 years, as it has been called the “Basiliad” of Romania. It was founded in 1990 by the clergyman Fr. Nikolae Tanase and so far it has accommodated thousands of minors. Today, its provides care to 236 children and 100 elderly people, while it supports more than 300 single-parent families. Over the years, the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity has sent 59 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Pro Vita, including lasting food supplies, fruits, medical equipment, furniture, clothing and toys.
Our last small contribution was the donation of 1,5 tonnes of oranges, which were picked up from our warehouse in Filiro, by one of the orphanage’s directors, Fr Raphael, who once again thanked us for our practical love and support. We close with an excerpt from a poem by Yannis Ritsos, who aptly writes: “whoever saves one man from a tear, grows the height of humanity by one meter”.
Imagine the value of an orphan’s tear…
