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• How did you come to faith?

My 11-year-old classmates told me how delightful it was to sing on the choir, and already on Sunday morning I was in the church.

• I was born into an Orthodox family in Moldova, in the village of Cenac, Cimislia district. I came to faith when I was 11 years old. As I remember now, one Saturday two of my classmates, who had already gone to the church and sang on the choir, were returning from the all-night service. When they met me, they began to tell me how beautiful and pleasant it was in the temple. And especially how delightful it is to sing on the choir! I was interested, and already on Sunday morning I was in the temple. From that day on, the temple and faith in God became the foundation of my life. Later I realized that it was through people that the Lord called me to serve Him.
  
• Why did you decide to become a priest?
  
• Over time, after I started going to the temple, I began to sing on the choir, and after a while I became an altar boy. Father Grigori (Cojocaru), the rector of the temple, whose parishioner I became, tried to increase our love for the Lord and the church. I watched how the bishop served the Divine Liturgy, and in time I had the idea of becoming a priest. Of course, at that time, maybe it was a youthful fantasy, but then I entered the seminary and after graduation I realized for myself: this is my path.
  
• How did you end up in Italy?
  
• It's a good question... I came to Italy in 2009 with the blessing of Vladyka Innokenty (Vasiliev), at that time Italy belonged to the diocese of Corsun. I came as a protodeacon and served in the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr in Rome. The abbot at that time was Hegumen Philip (Vasiltsev), at that time the secretary of the manager of the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Italy. So I stayed on.
  
• Do you like living here? Don't you ever feel like asking to go home?
  
• In Rome I liked it immediately: a beautiful temple on a hill near the Vatican, a nice friendly community, which received me and my family very warmly. I served there for 3 years, and, of course, for me almost every day was to some extent historical, because looking at the “eternal city”, as if you are in touch with the history of the Church and the ancient Christians. I was fortunate to serve our bishops in the Vatican, where the relics of the Apostle Peter are located, in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, where the manger in which the Savior was born is located, and in other holy places in Rome and Italy that are revered by the Orthodox world.
  

I was particularly impressed by the benevolence of the representatives of the Catholic Church in Rome toward us Orthodox.

• We will talk later about this. Please tell us about life in Italy: people, atmosphere, pros and cons. Give an extended picture of what the country looks like through the eyes of a Russian person.
  
• Italy is a beautiful country. It has both sea and mountains, and in general a different life. People here are different, probably like everywhere else: there are both kind and not so kind, but this does not prevent us from living peacefully. I was very surprised that ordinary people, Catholics, do not know anything about Orthodoxy. When talking to them about the Orthodox faith, it turns out that they have either never heard of it, or they compare Orthodoxy to sectarians.
  

• How many years has the history of Orthodoxy in Italy?
  
• The Orthodox Church in Italy has existed for a long time. The first Greek church officially appeared here about 500 years ago. In the south of Italy, the Orthodox have always been thanks to the Greek Church, because Greece, located on the opposite side of the Adriatic Sea, is rich in ancient temples that are still active today.
  

• How many parishes are there in the diocese today? And in general, how many Orthodox Christians are here these days and of what jurisdictions?
  
• In total there are about 60 parishes in our diocese, most of them are in the north of Italy. There are a lot of Moldovan parishes, because most of the parishioners come from Moldova. In this regard, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill appointed Bishop Ambrosius (Munteanu) as Vicar in Italy for the care of Moldovan parishes.
  
• Where do you serve today?
  
• Now in the city of Pesaro, in the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. The city of Pesaro is located on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, in the Marche region. In addition to the parish of the Life-Giving Trinity, I feed several other communities in this region.
  

The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity of Pesaro is located in the library of a Catholic monastery

• Tell us about your parish, about the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. First - about the history of its foundation. How was the idea to build a church here born? Who was the initiator of this good deed?
  
• The first parish in the Marche region appeared in 2013 in the city of Pesaro. I sent a letter to Vladyka Nestor with a request to give his blessing for the opening of this parish, and by God's grace, on March 24, 2013, in the week of St. Mary of Egypt, the first Divine Liturgy took place.
  

• Is the congregation large today? Does it consist of Russians or are there other nationalities, including local ones?
  
• In the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity the largest number of parishioners come from Moldova, they are also the most numerous foreigners of the city and neighborhood. There are, of course, also parishioners from Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Georgia and local Italians who have accepted Orthodoxy and husbands of our parishioners.
  
• Recall the most brightest case of conversion of someone from the locals to Orthodoxy.
  
• In our parish two adult men and several children converted to Orthodoxy. One day I received a call from a local Italian man asking for a meeting. I was surprised, but I did not refuse his request. At the meeting he told me about his desire to convert to Orthodoxy, and told me the reason for this decision. After undergoing an catechumenization, on the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, he joined the Church.
  
• How about a little more detail? What was his motivation?
  

This Italian began to research different religions and noticed that throughout history it was Orthodoxy that preserves the truth.

• He simply began to search for the truth and to research different religions. Eventually he began to study Orthodoxy and noticed that throughout history it is Orthodox Christianity that has maintained the truth. He himself was a Catholic and one of his sons later became Orthodox as well.
  
• Share the specifics of parish life. In what language do you conduct the divine service?
  
• The language of the divine service is determined by the nationality of the majority of parishioners present at the service. It is mainly Moldovan, but some litanies are in Church Slavonic.
  

• And as for educational, charitable, social projects - do you manage to do something?
  
• There is a Sunday school. In times of active fighting in Donbass we sent money and things. For big holidays we prepare gifts and give them to children from orphanages. Once at Easter through our priest in Moldova we gave large chocolate eggs to children from an orphanage. It was an incredible gift for them, because there is no such thing in Moldova. We also donate toys and things to orphanages. The parish always supports not only spiritually, but also materially needy parishioners in crisis situations. For example, once we paid for the burial of a deceased person in full.
  

• Tell us about the highlights of parish life in recent years.
  
• Most likely, we will talk about the first liturgy in the parish. There is one more interesting moment in the history of the community, namely, when we celebrated the feast day, the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit, then, as usual, after the service, all the parishioners gathered for a meal around a long 15-meter table, and during the singing of the prayer before the meal, a dove flew in from nowhere and at a height of about half a meter from the table flew it from beginning to end!
  
• Symbolic.
  
• I can't tell you the joy that enveloped everyone present at that moment! It may have been an accident, but I am sure that in this world nothing is accidental, everything is from God.
  

• You're creating intrigue. What happened?

After communion, the woman fell asleep, and when she woke up, she just got out of bed and started walking around the intensive care unit!

• I was told that after I left, the patient fell into a deep sleep for about two hours. And when she woke up, she just got out of bed and started walking around the emergency room!
  
• It's a miracle!
  
• The doctor who came to the room was shocked by the story of what had happened, he was told about it by two neighbors of the healed woman in the intensive care room. The doctor wondered how a bedridden patient, unable to make the slightest movement, not even to say her name (Svetlana was the woman's name), could get up and walk after the priest's visit. When Svetlana told me all this in tears, I could only thank God for his boundless love for people.
  
• Thank God for that.
  
• Yes, and a similar miracle happened with the husband of one of our parishioners, Italian Giancarlo. The man went to the hospital in a very serious condition, the doctors urged to prepare for the worst. But, as always, everyone trusted in God's mercy. The woman very much wanted her husband to accept Orthodoxy, and Giancarlo himself wanted it, but at that moment to realize his transition was not possible. The patient was in an extremely serious condition and could not speak or fully realize what was happening. As soon as Giancarlo's condition improved a little, and I was able to fully perform the rite of accession over him, the servant of God John (with this name we baptized him) received Holy Communion for the first time. All the time he was in the hospital, the doctors told his wife that there was no hope for recovery, because in the past he had smoked a lot and his lungs hardly worked. It was pitiful and painful to look at him! The operation was performed, but its outcome remained unknown, so I decided to resort to frequent anointing and communion of the patient. With God's help he gradually recovered and lived for several more years. Two years ago, the servant of God John went to the Lord.
  

Every time I visited the parishioners in the hospital, the Italians in the ward with them joined in prayer of their own wish

• That is an interesting observation. And the stories are really very revealing. Tell me, how do the Orthodox (in particular, your parish) develop relations with the state? Does it support or, on the contrary, hinder the activities of the community?
  
• Formally we are treated well, but, unfortunately, there is no special support.
  
• Do you work? Why? Do you think that a priest should work?
  
• In addition to my priestly ministry I work as a gardener. I believe that a priest should fully devote himself to serving God and people. But, unfortunately, given the lack of proper funding, as well as the lack of the necessary documents to be legally in Italy, secular work is a necessity.
  
• What serious spiritual questions from parishioners do you as a pastor face in your ministry?
  
• First of all, the most pressing issue for us is the upbringing of children in the Orthodox faith. There are difficulties in mixed marriages where the woman adheres to Orthodox traditions that are not always understood by her Catholic husband.
  
• What do you see as the challenge of the times for an Orthodox man? Perhaps specifically in Italy.
  
• The most important thing is to keep our Orthodox faith. There is nothing more important than holding on to Orthodoxy, especially in Italy. For example, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and other non-Christian religions, besides not being Christian, do not have a large following here in Italy. Taking into account the local traditions of society, at school and in Italian families, where our compatriots get to work or in connection with marriage, it is hard for them, baptized in Orthodoxy, not to lose their bearings. A person who unwittingly gets acquainted with the dominant religion of Italy - Catholicism, but who has not previously established himself in Orthodoxy, runs the risk of succumbing to a serious test, because our faith differs little from Catholicism for a person who is unchurched (alas), and it may seem to them that there is no difference.
  

• If a pilgrim (or traveler) from Russia finds himself in Italy, what places would you definitely advise him to visit?
  
• Apart from the well-known shrines that are included in pilgrimage programs, I would also like to pay attention to the town of Manoppello. It is located in the hills at the foot of the Majella mountain range in the Abruzzo region. I recommend you to visit the Sanctuary of the Uncircumcised Savior, in Italian “Il Volto Santo”. Here is kept a priceless relic - a cloth with the image of the face of Jesus Christ.
  

• In conclusion, I will ask our traditional question. What words from Holy Scripture especially encourage and support you in difficult moments of life?
  
• “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its strength, how can you make it salty? It is no longer good for anything, except to throw it away for people to trample on” (Matthew 5:13).