Saint Dosoftei of MoldovaToday, the thirteenth of December, is the feast-day of the great Romanian-language poet and holy hierarch of the Orthodox Church, Saint Dosoftei of Moldova. As well as being a prolific poet in his own right – sometimes counted as the first great poet, indeed, in his own language! – Saint Dosoftei was also an erudite scholar who translated numerous Greek editions of Liturgical texts into Church Slavonic and Romanian. He was also a dedicated and active archpastor. However, owing to the political climate of the time – the incessant wars the Turks waged on Orthodox peoples throughout the Balkans and Eastern Europe on one hand, and the machinations and force of the Uniates on the other – Saint Dosoftei was among those who were persecuted. Because of his steadfast Orthodoxy and his criticism of worldly kings, he ended his life, like Saint John Chrysostom, in exile.
Dosoftei was born Dimitrie Barilă on the twenty-sixth of October, 1624, in Suceava, to Leontie and Misira Barilă. He was named for the fourth-century Saint Dēmētrios of Thessaloniki, on whose feast-day he was born. His parents were faithful Orthodox Christians, and he loved Christ and His Church as much as they did. His parents took care to educate him carefully, so that when Dimitrie was a young man he already had a quick mind, a humble and curious disposition and an ear for languages, of which by adulthood he knew five besides his native Romanian: Greek, Latin, Church Slavonic, Polish and Ruthenian. He attended school at the Three Hierarchs Monastery in Iași, and subsequently from the Orthodox Brothers at the Kiev Caves Monastery. At the age of twenty-five, he forsook the life of the world and took the tonsure of a monk, along with the monastic name Dosoftei – that is to say, Dositheos.
The new monk Dosoftei was a wondrously gifted student. Again, he was not only adept in learning other languages, but he also loved studying the natural sciences and philosophy. But what really drew him were the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church, the Scriptures and the Psalms. As a monk in the Probota Monastery, as well, he learned and practised the ascetic disciplines of prayer, fasting and obedience to the abbot. By looking to Christ he grew in love and wisdom, and soon he became a mentor, an educator and a spiritual father to other monks in Probota. This was a discipline that well suited his disposition and intellectual strength, and he undertook it for many years, gently and mildly guiding monks in the way of truth and in the love of God.
Advanced in both knowledge and in virtue, he was chosen by God to fulfil the office of an archpastor, although as a monk this was not his first choice. In 1658, at the age of 34, he was anointed as the bishop of Huși, and the year afterward he was transferred to Roman. Thirteen years later, in 1671, Saint Dosoftei was elected to the office of Metropolitan of Moldavia. His wisdom and his kindness were legendary, and he astonished everyone. As the chronicler John Neculce put it:
Acest Dosoftei mitropolit nu era om prost de felul lui. Și era neam de mazâl. Prea învățat, multe limbi știa: elinește, slovenește, și altă adâncă carte și-nvățătură. Deplin călugăr și cucernic, și blând ca un miel. În țara noastră, pe ceasta vreme nu este om ca acela.Saint Dosoftei lived in very troublous times, with the Moldavian principality being subject to invasions from every side, and particularly by the Turks. And yet it was during this time of trials and hardships that he produced some of his most significant scholarly work – the translations of Liturgical, Scriptural, hagiographical and Patristic texts, into Church Slavonic for the benefit of the Russian people, and into Romanian for the benefit of his own. He wrote a recension of the Greek Old Testament in Romanian which remained in use for many centuries afterward. The fact that he was able to do this, as well as caring for war refugees, widows and orphans in his own territory, tells us much about his spiritual quality and his care for all dimensions of the lives of his flock.
This metropolitan Dositheos was not a simple man of his sort. He was of boyar blood; and being so learned, he knew many languages: Greek, Slavonic, and many other profound books and doctrines. A complete and devout monk, as gentle as a lamb. In our country nowadays, there is no such man as this.
The wars against the Ottomans and the wars against the Poles claimed Saint Dosoftei as one of their victims. When the Turks captured the country in 1673, on account of his anti-Ottoman stances, Metropolitan Dosoftei was deposed from his see and sent into exile in Poland. The following year he was replaced in office by a good monk named Teodosie, but upon Dosoftei’s return from this first exile Teodosie gladly relinquished the Metropolia of Moldavia back to its previous holder. Teodosie himself retired into Bogdana Monastery in Bucovina, and soon thereafter suffered martyrdom.
In Iași Metropolitan Dosoftei restored the printing-house, and used it to publish his new written volumes in Romanian. These included Divine Liturgies (1679 and 1683); a Psalter (1680) with parallel Slavonic and Romanian text; and a Book of Prayers (1681). From 1682 to 1686 he worked on developing a Romanian Paterikon based on Greek and Slavonic sources on the lives of the saints; however, this work was left unfinished, being interrupted by his second exile into Poland. Still, this work demonstrates his great love for the saints – both those of distant antiquity and far-off lands, and Romanian saints whom he knew and treasured personally. He wrote about people like Saint Daniel the Hesychast and Saint Raphael of Agapia. And he supported and encouraged printing of holy books by others, and the establishment of other monastic presses. At his urging and with his backing, Mitrofan of Buzău printed several editions in Greek from his monastery: Cetățuia Monastery in Iași.
What happened in 1686 that interrupted Saint Dosoftei’s work and sent him into exile again, was the invasion of Moldavia by John III Sobieski, which resulted in the plunder of much wealth from the Moldavian people by the Poles, as well as of the relics of Saint Ioan the New of Suceava. Metropolitan Dosoftei spent the rest of his earthly days in exile from his earthly homeland, though all the time he was preparing both himself and his people for entry into the heavenly one. In exile he continued his translations of holy texts into Romanian, including the Patristic writings of Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Saint Germanos of Constantinople and Saint Symeōn of Thessalonikē.
Saint Dosoftei endured his exile at Stry Castle with equanimity and set about practically with what he was able to do, providing pastoral care to the mostly Ruthenian flock of Orthodox Christians in Poland. He was, all the same, subject to constant political pressure from the Polish King John III, and attempts to persuade him and his flock to convert to the Unia. However, Saint Dosoftei condemned the Unia in no uncertain terms, and steadfastly refused to abandon Orthodoxy, thus saving his flock from becoming spiritually as well as politically colonised people under Polish dominion. He remained steadfastly Orthodox to the end of his life; he reposed on the thirteenth of December, 1693. Accounts of the monks who were with him show that he was given by God to know the day of his repose in advance. He was buried at the Zhovkva Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God.
The Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church glorified Metropolitan Dosoftei as a saint on 14 October, 2005. An adept student, a prolific scholar and literary mind, a great transmitter of tradition to the future generations, a loving spiritual father to many young monks and a caring and practical archpastor to many more of the laity, Saint Dosoftei is deeply beloved by Romanians, Moldovans and Carpathian Rusins alike. Holy hierarch Dosoftei, angelic scholar and tutor and gentle archpastor to generations of Orthodox Christians, pray unto Christ our God for the salvation of our souls!
Probota Monastery, Romania
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