Reminiuscences 16

Orthodoxy

Ovidiu was delighted to hear that Ben wanted to come with him to church. He arranged to meet him at the Piața Unirii metrou station at the exit near to Mcdonald’s. Ben thought that this wouldn’t be too hard to find. The only thing was that Ovidiu wanted them to meet at 9.30 a.m. which meant having to rush. Having already spent one day in the city, Ben felt more confident now and thought that he could manage to handle this.

Indeed, he did, throwing on some outdoors clothes and trainers, shooting out of the block of flats (complete with the dicey lift ride down, fortunately the lift had only been stationed two floors below, so whirred up to him quickly!) and then darting between other blocks of flats and various hindrances such as fences, cars, kiosks, stray dogs and pedestrians to reach his destination of Crângași Metrou station. From here, he bought his two journey ticket and jumped on the first train to come, hoping it was the one in the right direction. It was, although as he studied the map he realised that this wasn’t hard as the route was circular so both trains went through Piața Unirii, just one got there quicker than the other. Fortunately, he had gotten on the one that arrived there sooner, or maybe it was divine intervention once again.

Whatever the forces behind his fortuitous decision, it was handy because he arrived at Piața Unirii with just 5 minutes to spare to navigate his way around and find the Mcdonald’s. He circled around the platform that he had arrived at but didn’t see any golden Ms. He saw that there was a passageway that seemed to be leading through to a different bit of the station, so he decided to give that ago. It was just as well he did because in a jiffy he was standing before an underground Mcdonald’s at 9.32 a.m., only two minutes late. No sign of Ovidiu though. He waited and then waited some more and then started to wonder if anything had happened. Ovidiu had stressed the need for him to rush and be on time, but now Ovdiu wasn’t there. What could the reason be? Ben asked himself.

At precisely 9.48 a.m., Ovidiu appeared. 'Hello! Good to see you. Let’s go!' were his only words, with no reference to his tardiness. It was as if he was right on time. Ben shrugged and followed as Ovidiu led the way out of the underground station via some stairs and a biggish escalator.

They then set off on a good paced walk via a busy area next to a shopping centre, which necessitated some good people dodging skills. They turned right and headed up a wide road, away from the masses and into a much more open space. Ben started to lose his breath as Ovidiu dragged him along at a high pace. Funny thought Ben, he’d rushed to be on time and now he was being rushed at someone else’s behest when if all had gone to plan, he could now be enjoying a stroll. He felt a little annoyance growing in him at this injustice, but after a brief internal struggle, he sensed something drawing him along, even if a part of him was telling him to stop.

Ovidiu led the way, oblivious to the wrestling going on behind him inside of Ben. After a brisk 10 minute walk, Ovidiu abruptly veered to the right and entered into the courtyard of an ornate looking church. It wasn’t quite what Ben had been expecting. He’d seen Ovidiu as more of an evangelical sort of guy, walking around carrying his Bible, making references to God’s will and inviting people to church. But here they were in front of an Orthodox church!

Ovidiu headed up the steps that led into the church and Ben had no choice except to follow. The courtyard of the Church was very crowded with people everywhere. Ben hadn’t thought that the Orthodox church was so well attended, although he started to speculate that something special was going on, especially as there was a long queue of people on the steps waiting to enter the church. Ovidiu, however, avoided the queue and went straight in the door. A bit cheeky it seemed to Ben, but he had no choice but to follow suit.

Ben found himself in the hallway area that lay before the actual church sanctuary.  Ovidiu had stopped by the doorway and was peering in.

'What’s going on?' asked Ben when he finally caught up with Ovidiu.

'Today, the Moaștele of Sfântul Nectarie are here and I want to see,' replied Ovidiu.

Ben was now none the wiser why there were actually there, but he was reassured that this was just a detour and not their final destination.

'What do you mean by ‘Moaștele?' Ben responded inquisitively.

Ovidiu turned to him, looking slightly bothered by the question as if everyone should know what ‘Moaștele’ are.

'These are the bits that are left of the Sfânt.'

It didn’t take Ben much to work out that Sfânt was probably Saint, but the concept of bits of him being left seemed decidedly odd.

To make things clearer Ovidiu began pointing into the church to direct Ben’s attention to what he meant. There placed somewhere in the middle of the church’s open space was a table with a white table cloth on it. Sitting atop the table was a picture frame, a very ornate looking one at that, with golden edges and fine red material backing instead of a picture. Perched within the frame was a small object. Ben had to edge into the church to be able to discern what it actually was. As he got closer, it gradually dawned on him that it was fingernail! There was a long line of people waiting to stand before this most holy of fingernails. When each person’s turn came, they edged towards it, bowing, kissing, making crosses and just generally showing signs of great respect. They then turned and left as the next person approached. This all seemed a little much to Ben for such an apparently insignificant object. After all, if anyone really wanted, he could provide a host of nail clippings free of charge!

Ben stared a while at this most odd sight. Ovidiu stood by his side, also seemingly trying to take it all in. Ben was so struck by the strangeness of what was unfolding before him that he barely noticed the extraordinary insides of the Church building. It was exquisitely decorated with beautifully coloured paintings of saints and Bible scenes and other stories all over the walls and ceiling. There were also many other splendid objects culminating in the extravagant golden wall that stood behind the altar at the front of the church. For Ben though, this was all overshadowed by the fingernail.

Eventually, he and Ovidiu tore themselves away from what was happening and started to make their way out of the church. There was one door to get into the church sanctuary and another to leave. They made their way to the exit, but as they were doing so they heard a voice.

'Nu vreți niște Aghiasma?'

They swivelled around to see a man with a well-grown beard, dressed in a long black robe, wafting a little silver bowl towards them.

'What’s that?' blurted out Ben instinctively, giving away his foreignness.

'American?' asked the man standing before them.

'No, actually not,' replied Ben antagonistically, feeling slightly annoyed at this recurring theme.

'Ok. We have holy water for sale. $20 a bottle,' said the man, whose English was pretty good. Maybe he met a lot of Americans, speculated Ben.

Ben looked at Ovidiu for suggestions of what to do. Ovidiu looked just as uncertain as Ben was.

'No, thanks. I prefer mineral water,' was Ben’s less than subtle response.

This is special water. It is blessed by Mitropolitul Bucurestului!'

Ben was wary of blessed drinks, ever since he’d seen a certain episode of ‘Only Fools and Horses.’

'Well, thanks, but even if the Pope had blessed it, I’m still not interested,' was Ben’s unwise reply.

At this, the man in black started to get agitated and began muttering something about ‘eretici’ and ‘sectanți’.

'You must come back to true church!' were his final words before turning his back and heading off to look for more receptive clients.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay