BRADITEL - Old-style Orthodox monastery (Neamt County, Moldova, Romania)

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Brădițel Monastery is located on Brădițel Hill, a wooded hill located 25 km from Târgu Neamț (via Grumăzești) and Piatra Neamț (via Bodești).
The history of monasticism in Brădițel begins in 1925 when monks who remained in the old style retire here after, a year before (1924), the Romanian Orthodox Church had adopted the new calendar and other "innovations". In the years 1927-1930 they built here a small wooden chapel which, together with the cells, will be demolished in 1936 by the order against the stylists.
Mother Macaria Samoilă, living at the Văratec Monastery, remaining faithful to the old calendar, is forced for 20 years (1927-1947) to wander through the forests of Neamț, during which time she was arrested, beaten, humiliated. In 1947, she, the Macaria nun, was named abbess of Brădițel Monastery, the following year starting the construction of the first church, built of adobe and wood. In the absence of all permits, the newly built church did not initially have towers with cross. In the years 1956-1958 repairs and modifications were made, the church being brought to an appropriate shape. This church will be secretly consecrated in 1978.
The 1977 earthquake and heavy rains in the spring of 1988 severely affected the church, forcing the construction of a new, solid stone and brick church. In the absence of permits, however, the nuns began work in May 1988 under the leadership of Abbess Maria Gheorghe. The new stone church is being built around the old one. About three weeks after the partial erection of the walls, the authorities arrive to demolish them, and then a dramatic moment ensues: the abbess gathers the nuns holding hands around the church, saying: “« Kill us, let's us fall under the walls and then you ruin the church. ” Impressed, the workers refuse to start demolition. An order is received from Bucharest that the walls not be demolished, and the monastery receives a large fine. However, the works continue, at the end of August 1988 the old church inside was demolished.
The consecration of the new (current) church was made on July 31, 1995 by His Eminence Metropolitan Vlasie and the council of the Old Style Orthodox Church. The Brădiţel monastery has the big patron saint "The Shroud of the Mother of God" and the small patron saint "The Healing Spring".
The current church has a cross shape, with a stone and concrete foundation, with arches and brick vaults. Only the iconostasis and the pews are made by craftsmen, and the rest, from the painting to the finely worked wooden lacework, represent the skill and toil of the nuns for many years.
The community of the monastery has over 100 nuns and sisters, led since 1990 by the abbess Varvara Blaga according to the ordinances and canons of the Holy Fathers and according to the Typical of Saint Sava.
In the monastery there are workshops of painting, sculpture, knitting, weaving, tailoring. The main source of nourishment is the cultivation of the land and the raising of animals.
Other old-style nunneries in the area are Brădăţel Monastery (Suceava County, but which is still confused by name) and Dobru Monastery (Vânători-Neamţ, Neamț County).

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