Orthodox Reflections

The Saint Reverend Father Nil Dorobanțu, the fool for Christ, is unknown in the West, despite having been a PhD student in Theology under the renowned Fr. Dumitru Staniloae, a prolific writer in his own right (though his works were published posthumously), and a great (though suffering) opponent of both godless communism and nominalism within the Church. Saint Nil was known for preaching freely for hours throughout his city dressed almost in rags and barefoot. His boldness for Christ made him an enemy of both the communists, and those within the “official” Church who felt his actions as a personal rebuke. 

This article contains a link to a PDF of his life in English, an introduction from Maxim, the translator, and the Akathist to the Saint (below and in the PDF). 

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I want to start this article by saying and requesting a few things.

First, for any readers who wish to contact Father Macarie Banu, Father Ionel Adam or author Sergiu Ciocârlan (who wrote a book with a biography of the saintly Father Nil Dorobanțu) – who are the foremost promoters of the life and works of Father Saint Nil Dorobanțu – I will gladly provide their contact info in private. Send me an email at the address takebackconstantinople11@gmail.com or message me on my X account (@AUGUSTINUSMAXIM), or on my Facebook profile.

I should add that none of them speak English, but as far as I know Father Macarie Banu has disciples who know English, and who could help him understand a message. Another idea and/or alternative would be using deepL.com or Grok AI or ChatGPT to first translate your message from English into Romanian. deepL is very good as it is 90% to 95% accurate in its translations.

Second, I absolutely recommend that if people want the biography of this great, modern saint (unknown in the English-speaking world) to be translated into English, please bombard the author Sergiu Ciocârlan with messages requesting a translation. I spoke with him last year asking about a possible English translation, but he wanted to wait at least a few months to first see how the book was received in Romania. The author wanted to see reviews from Romanian readers,  and only then would possibly consider an English translation. So definitely request this to him/from him if you want to see an English translation of this amazing, modern saint. (In the meantime, you can read more about the saint in this PDF.)

Also, please share your thoughts in the comment section on Orthodox Reflections as I (the author of this article) will read all the comments from the website and will respond to them.

If you want the PDF with the original book in Romanian, you should be able to download it from Scribd here.

Lastly, I would kindly ask if any of the readers happen to have ChatGPT Premium or deepL Pro or any such things to contact me, as I do have the PDF with the autobiography written by Father Saint Nil Dorobanțu, and I would like to translate it into English. It’s very short (a little bit over 100 pages together with the foreword and the afterword), but I won’t have the money to buy deepL Pro for at least a month or two. So any help would be gladly appreciated. But if not, then I guess you’ll just have to wait one or two months.

That being said please read the life of the saint in PDF form here. It is an amalgam of multiple Romanian articles translated and brought together in one place in English for the first time. Please pray the Akathist below to a truly great saint of the Orthodox Church. God bless – Maxim

For all Akathists published on our site, click here. This Akathist was recently translated into English by Maxim, who kindly asks all Orthodox Christians to keep him in their prayers for his repentance and same for his grandfather who is gravely ill.

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Akathist to Father Saint Nil Dorobanțu the Fool for Christ, Confessor and Holy Theologian

written by Father Macarie Banu

See PDF on the life of the saint for additional images

Kontakion 1

In the persecuted Church of unstable Blachernae, you served your entire life, chosen by God as prophet and archpriest; you shepherded Christ’s flock, always preaching, celebrating the liturgy, absolving and communing, giving rest to the Lord of the Cross as said in the Gospel, you Confessor of the catacombs, Nil. Being very wise, you showed yourself to be mad, you shamed the atheists, you rebuked the hypocrites, you visited the monasteries, and through the heavenly Word you called us all to receive the Risen One, Jesus the True, the Righteous Judge, the Lamb and the Good Shepherd, in the Eucharist. For this reason, we sing to you, Father:

Rejoice, Holy Nil, you God-speaker!

Ikos 1

To the Creator of angels and Lord of powers, from birth you were devoted to Him, Father Nil, that you were born in the field and had no place among men to lay your head, but only under the shelter of the God of heaven, your Support, under whose wings you hoped and whom you loved greatly. And we sing to you:

Rejoice, for you were born in the village of Crainici and became a herald of the Lord’s will;

Rejoice, for you were not born in expensive palaces, but in a flowery field, and throughout your life, poor and naked, you served the Lord;

Rejoice, for you were born a eunuch, but for the Kingdom of God you became a eunuch once again;

Rejoice, for you tended sheep in your childhood and sang to them from the Liturgy;

Rejoice, for your voice resounded in the glades and valleys, and the mountains and waters and fruitful trees praised the Lord with your voice;

Rejoice, for in the wilderness, on the rocks, in the caves, in the dense forest, and in the place chosen by the Lord, you will celebrate the Liturgy;

Rejoice, for your pure voice will stir up the people and prophesy the will of the Lord;

Rejoice, for you were sent to guide the clergy and the people to Orthodoxy;

Rejoice, divine preacher of the grace of the Eucharist;

Rejoice, apostle of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Rejoice, rebuker of apostasy with a sharp voice;

Rejoice, beloved son of the Mother of God, and protected by Her;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 2

He who enlightens every man who comes into the world, O Father of Fathers, has sanctified you too as a chosen vessel of the heavenly Word in the persecution of the last days – for His poor flock that is surrounded. You were carried away to the divine Light and enveloped as in a fiery sun, and you sang to the Lord Sabaoth: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready—Alleluia!

Ikos 2

The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, anointed you as a prophet to speak the Word of the Lord, and to fulfill the series of theophanies sent to our oppressed people, called with repentance to salvation and to continuous communion, in times of persecution. The fire of the Logos was kindled in you, to pour it out like wine and oil everywhere: over the wounded man fallen among thieves and over the thief who repented bitterly. Lord Jesus Christ, Savior, You are good and forgiving to all, and for Your love, we praise Nil, the ecstatic one, thus:

Rejoice, for at 14 years of age you had your first theophany and were reborn in the uncreated Light;

Rejoice, for the Holy Light visited you twice more in your parents’ house;

Rejoice, for from that moment your soul thirsted only for the Lord;

Rejoice, for you attended many schools, but worldly wisdom did not steal you away;

Rejoice, for through your great learning you became a great apologist for Orthodoxy;

Rejoice, for you amazed your professors at the Faculties of Law, Philosophy, and Theology;

Rejoice, for you spent the whole day in the Church of the Holy Trinity, writing theological works while sitting in the choir loft;

Rejoice, for at night you struggled in vigils, prostrations, and prayers;

Rejoice, for you did not allow your eyelids to sleep until your mind learned the philokalic work in your heart;

Rejoice, for you obeyed Christ perfectly, proclaiming the Gospel with zeal;

Rejoice, for at every step you were guided from above and covered with the omophorion of the Mother of God;

Rejoice, chosen, beloved, and sent by the Lord to carry Him as a living antimension;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 3

The Lord of Theophanies called you, and you deserted the earthly army, Holy Nil, to fight in His monastic army; you became like a madman out of love for Him, and on Golgotha you set out for your own crucifixion, saying to the Heavenly Bridegroom:

Do good, Lord, in Your goodness, to Zion, for You are the Son of Man, and let Jerusalem be built in Your Name, Jesus, Son of God, crying out to You forever: Alleluia!

Ikos 3

Receiving the angelic image, you strove ever more for the grace of the Crucified One, and with the pataphyr you worked well, preaching the Word of the Lord unceasingly, writing thousands of pages at night and confessing Christ.

And when you came to Vladimirești, you tasted the grace of heavenly Zion, blessed threefold in Theophany, in the Eucharist, and in Martyrdom. And so, with many tears, the people returned to God, partaking of the sacraments, and they praised you:

Rejoice, for during your monastic life, the monk Damian had a vision and saw you lifted up from the earth in light;

Rejoice, living testimony of the states of Philokalia: of the divine Grace that revives us;

Rejoice, for grace carried you to the monastery of Vladimirești, the holy land where the Mother of God walked;

Rejoice, for in a theophany the abbess Veronica knew you;

Rejoice, for Veronica said of you that a chosen one of the Lord would preach the word from above for three years;

Rejoice, trumpet that proclaims to the world the heavenly theophanies of Vladimirești;

Rejoice, for you learned the Hesychast breathing from Avva Arsenie Boca;

Rejoice, for Father Ioan Iovan gave you his blessing;

Rejoice, for when you received blessed bread from Avva Arsenie, a mystical thrill immediately overwhelmed you;

Rejoice, for that thrill transformed you on the spot, and since then, you have felt as if you were carried above the entire globe;

Rejoice, for your word burned sin as fire burns, for you worked with the spirit and power of Elijah the Prophet;

Rejoice, crystal-clear bell that announces heaven coming to earth;

Rejoice, Holy Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 4

By teaching the Word of truth, you became everything to everyone, so that Jesus’ sheep might be cleansed of their sins, washed in tears and united in the Eucharist. Barefoot and from a high place, you preached the Gospel, Father Nil, with your head uncovered, with a rope tied around your waist, you appeared in monasteries and villages like a prophet from afar, a wonderful sign of the times for the wooden Cross, the giver of life even to the bearer, who cries out: Alleluia!

Ikos 4

“You have come out of your mother’s womb and are running towards the grave, but stop for a moment at the feet of Christ, on the threshold of eternal life, to listen to His heavenly Word. O world, world! You are all thieves, but come to Christ, that the word may be fulfilled for you too:

Today you will be with Me in Paradise!” – thus, Father, you preached for three apocalyptic and sorrowful years, and you gathered much fruit. For this reason, hear from us:

Rejoice, for you rebuked the decadent clergy and shook the lukewarm;

Rejoice, for you preached night after night in Secu, Văratec, and Agapia, as at the Resurrection, so that even the walls wept with sorrow;

Rejoice, for you passed from Moldova to Transylvania, from monastery to monastery, to ignite everyone with your enthusiasm;

Rejoice, for when you preached at Nicula, Christ Himself worked with you; many souls were changed for the better;

Rejoice, for people came in such numbers that there was no room for them, and you distributed sacks of money to all the poor;

Rejoice, for dressed in sackcloth, barefoot and girded with a rope, you brought the sectarians back to Orthodoxy;

Rejoice, for you wept spiritual tears for the people, and one night a nun saw you praying, raised from the ground;

Rejoice, for while you stayed in Bogdana, you raised crosses everywhere, forgave sins, and continually gave communion to the monks;

Rejoice, for in Râmeț you served in the underground church, perfumingthe Church with divine odors from the relics of Saint Ghelasie;

Rejoice, for under your omophorion, with bare heads, under the snowflakes, thousands of Christians came to confession, and after washing their souls with tears, they all immediately received communion
with longing;

Rejoice, for on Mount Tarcău—in the diocese of Roman—Bicaz stopped to listen to your lively sermon;

Rejoice, for in Baia Mare, while celebrating the liturgy in the church, 100 people, in a theophany, all saw the Lord and His Mother coming out of the icons;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 5

“All of us who love Christ are hated in vain,” you said, Father, with a bitter voice, being slandered and betrayed, beaten, struck, and forcibly expelled from the service by the secret police. But you paid no attention to anything and preached the truth without fear, calling even the hardened to repentance, saying:

“Hired clerics and monks! You have gone out against the flock like wild wolves and are killing us, your brothers! Do not forget that in the hands with which you gave us the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, you hold the sickle and hammer with which you kill and drive nails into us. But your persecution will bring us salvation, and you condemnation.”

To the Lord of the Cross, Jesus, Who strengthened your preaching, we sing: Alleluia!

Ikos 5

With the spirit and power of the Prophet Elijah, you labored for the Lord, Father Nil, who was abandoned by evil workers and cut down by persecuting atheists. And among all their iniquities, the most heinous was the destruction of the Vladimirești Monastery, the imprisonment of Father Ioan Iovan and Mother Veronica, and the expulsion of the 300 virgin nuns into the “new world” of the communists, full of destruction. With a voice like a fiery sword and filled with sorrow, you said: “O, where are the songs and psalms, the prayers, the sermons, all the theophanies and supernatural revelations of the Zion above? O, where are the virgins, the blessings and the celebrations, when thousands of people took communion? All heaven was concerned with the monastery of the virgins, which you atheists have devastated and brutally desecrated. Woe to you!” Hearing these words and trembling, we sing to you:

Rejoice, theophanic heir to the spirit of the Vladimirești monastic community;

Rejoice, for you preached on the mountain tops and in the heart of Bucharest;

Rejoice, fiery witness for continuous communion;

Rejoice, hyssop that cleansed souls through the Word and turned them to the Cross of Jesus;

Rejoice, for you were in ceaseless inner prayer and your heart became a spotless altar;

Rejoice, for you preached in a sackcloth and barefoot, and the hypocrites rose up against you;

Rejoice, new Jeremiah, for you lamented the ruin of monasticism in Romania;

Rejoice, for you prophesied the drying up and destruction of the monasteries that opposed communion;

Rejoice, for you prophesied the fate of the barren and cursed fig tree to those who helped destroy the new Zion;

Rejoice, great apologist of the Holy Eucharist, who received the living Words from heaven;

Rejoice, continuer of the work at Vladimirești, who is our model in the catacombs and persecution;

Rejoice, gentle and silent mystic, that through you the divine Words have prevailed;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 6

“Today is the revolution of thieves against saints,” you said with sorrow, Father, when you put on all the vestments, the spiritual treasures, and Mysteries of the Church, setting out on your journey, from place to place, as Christ revealed to you in theophany, traveling throughout the country and monasteries, preaching to all souls the Cross, the Eucharist, and Martyrdom, the righteous ways of the Lord. Vladimirești, the new Zion, was destroyed, but the Light of Christ appeared theophanically and tenderly in the Blachernae of the Resurrection of the catacombs, the undefeated and wandering Church of the two or three brothers in Christ, those who partake of the Eucharist and are martyred for the Truth, singing: Alleluia!

Ikos 6

In the string of theophanies, miracles, and holy, saving works sent by the Lord to us sinners for redemption from the valley of tears, you have strung yourself, Father Nil, like a ruby stone, lit up in the grace of the Holy Chalice, shining brightly and sweetly speaking of the “Holy One,” Christ Jesus, the Great Shepherd. “At Maglavit bodies were healed, at the new Zion souls were healed, and at the Unstable Blachernae of the Resurrection everyone is spiritually resurrected,” you taught, Father, those who love holy things, who even now praise you wisely:

Rejoice, Living Antimension, sent by the Lord to dozens of monasteries;

Rejoice, renewer of monasticism, for you have convinced young people tolive an angelic life;

Rejoice, for you zealously sought out every Christian, and were carried from house to house by Christ;

Rejoice, for your mission was for the clergy and monasticism, redeeming souls from atheism;

Rejoice, for the tears in your eyes did not cease, walking through the mountains, you were continually in inner prayer;

Rejoice, for when you arrived at Bistrița Monastery, Saint Gregory the Decapolite carried you away in ecstasy;

Rejoice, for when you served at Turnu, Frăsinei, and Cozia, you wept unceasingly for your people and monasticism;

Rejoice, for you performed holy unction, blessings, and exorcisms among the people;

Rejoice, for you communed and healed many, but you did not bow down to the apostates;

Rejoice, for you toiled in animal pens and lived in rags, hunger, heat, and cold for the Divine and Holy Name that you confessed among the people;

Rejoice, for years, from city to city, you became everything to everyone, and they sold you to the Securitate as a deceiver;

Rejoice, for they knocked out your teeth, but they could not separate you from Christ;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 7

It seems as if you came from another age, Father Nil, and with the full measure of the Gospel you taught and measured our age, weak and dark, characterized by madness. Your madness among the “wise” was a symbol for all—let those who will understand, understand!—of the reversal of times, full of wonder: the mystery of lawlessness worked in secret, even penetrating the chosen ones, who let their heads be anointed with the oil of sin against the Holy Spirit…

And the eschatological sign is the Church on the wood of the Cross, the members united in crucifixion and nourished by the Eucharist, The Body of the Lord, crucified and risen, entering through sealed walls and doors with “Peace be with you!”, as the dewdrop and the ray of grace appear in
the soul of everyone who sings to Christ the Lord: Alleluia!

Ikos 7

“Even the clergy and monasticism and the most faithful Christians are accustomed to pray to Christ with the portion, with the typikon, with the spoon, with the ration. But Christ is everywhere and eternal, He shows Himself to the poor, the orphans, and the illiterate,” you taught us, Father, showing the meaning of Theophany and the Eucharist in the time of Martyrdom. When the beast wages war on the saints, only the mad will confess Jesus, to the scandal of the wise; only the mad for Christ will be able to live decently in the new sodomitic and bloody Babylon, in the catacomb of their conscience worshipping in Spirit and Truth. And you, Saint Nilus, full of wounds and suffering, model of resistance and our forerunner, you have become so in the final persecution, which has already begun!

Rejoice, for day and night, from monastery to monastery, you preached Christ to every monk;

Rejoice, for after you searched all monasticism, the clergy and Pharisees excommunicated you and handed you over to the communists;

Rejoice, for the moment you were arrested, they thought they had escaped from you, but you continued your mission in your Great Sermon;

Rejoice, for the zeal of the Lord’s house consumed you, and except for two days, you celebrated the liturgy continuously all your years;

Rejoice, for despite hardship, illness, and persecution, you served the Liturgical Mystery daily;

Rejoice, for though you were behind bars, in chains, and beaten severely, you prayed unceasingly to Christ for the whole world, both the living and the dead;

Rejoice, for once you sang ecphonesis on green pastures, and now, tortured in a harsh prison or exiled in the wilderness, you celebrated the Liturgy with the same joy;

Rejoice, for Christ does not need thick walls, rigid types, and gems, but forgiveness, good deeds, love, and communed souls;

Rejoice, for serving the Holy Liturgy daily, Christ Himself showed you where to place the altar, through theophany;

Rejoice, for at the Holy Liturgy a choir of angels covered you, and at the Great Entrance Christ went out and came in with you;

Rejoice, for after the service, like Philip, you were taken away, and suddenly you found yourself in another place;

Rejoice, for having Christ present at every step, you always disturbed the sinful and limited man who blasphemed with his voice;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 8

“God has displayed us, the apostles, as the last of men, as men condemned to death, because we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are beaten and homeless. We labor, working with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When reviled, we pray. We have become the refuse of the world, the scum of all, even until now. I am not writing these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have tens of thousands of teachers in Christ, you do not have many fathers.” (1 Cor 4:9-15).

Our father Nil, you Apostolic and humble man, pray to the King of Glory, revealed in Bread and Wine, liturgically and praised by us: Alleluia!

Ikos 8

At the Nechit skete, in neglect and long-standing sin, when the abbot fell ill and left you in his place, you gave alms to the hungry and orphans all the abundance of the barns, even the bed beneath you you gave as alms, with all the money that had been collected in buckets and given away, while you preached incessantly. And when the abbot returned, not loving Christ, he hated you, Saint, and beat you, so that your blood formed a pool, and he drove you out of his rotten monastery with the militia. But you rejoiced as one blessed, for you fulfilled the Gospel and heard from the angels:

Rejoice, for though the abbot left, you gave wheat, oil, and a cow with a calf as alms;

Rejoice, for in rags all day and even at night you preached, and you did not touch money, but gathered it in buckets;

Rejoice, for with buckets you distributed to the poor who had nothing;

Rejoice, for you fulfilled your vow of poverty and gave rest to the poor of Jesus;

Rejoice, good and pure heart, in which the Lord appears theophanically;

Rejoice, gentle shepherd, for you have inherited the flock of sheep;

Rejoice, for the Lord has entrusted them to your care, sanctifying you as a hierarch, seeing how you have laid down your soul for them;

Rejoice, for you have fed them with the Word of God sent from above;

Rejoice, for you have forgiven their sins and called them to repentance;

Rejoice, for you have delighted them in the Liturgy and given them Christ in the Eucharist;

Rejoice, for you have shown mercy and fulfilled the Gospel;

Rejoice, for you sent the unscrupulous abbot bags of money over the years, if only he would repent;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 9

In the depths of late winter, you were captured by the soldiers, climbing Golgotha with the chosen ones of the Romanian people who professed Jesus. Beaten and imprisoned without trial, behind heavy bars, in a small cell full of mice, snakes, and filth, you performed the daily Liturgy, enduring all hell and breaking its threshold, sharing with the saints in chains, who spent their time in vigil, in silence and martyrdom. Together with them, we too rise from our numbness, singing, shouting, raising our voices to the thrice Holy One: Alleluia!

Ikos 9

“I looked up to the heavens: Christ had forsaken me, just as the heavenly Father had forsaken Him in the most difficult moment of the climax of the Cross. I no longer heard the heavenly Word, I no longer had visions. But I carried the Cross of Christ on the new Calvary” – thus you confessed, Father, the state of brokenness and terrible abandonment, the living hell from which only Christ gives escape to those who walk in His likeness. And we weave songs for you:

Rejoice, for you were betrayed, hated, and forbidden before the unbelievers, and your brother in the same garment as yours did not recognize you, nor did he have mercy on you;

Rejoice, for you were often carried away by angels, but from the moment you entered the Calvary of the Cross, the Lord Himself strengthened you;

Rejoice, for even in prison you worked for the Kingdom, untying, comforting, and sharing with Christian souls;

Rejoice, for you sprinkled the atheists armed with rifles and pistols with holy water and holy oil, so that they fled with the devils;

Rejoice, for you prayed for your tormentors and sincerely loved your enemies;

Rejoice, for they trampled you as one tramples mud on the road, and you forgave them anyway;

Rejoice, for they kept you in prison for 120 days;

Rejoice, for in solitude you endured all things with the Lord;

Rejoice, fountain of grace, who drank the cup of bitterness to the dregs;

Rejoice, chest that hid the treasure of the Mysteries from those who profane the soul and kill the body;

Rejoice, for in a garment of mockery, bloodied, hungry, and tearful, you stood as a true witness at the unjust judgment of the atheists;

Rejoice, for they put you on an unjust trial, where you defeated them in word and in truth;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 10

The Rising Sun, Christ, shone beautifully in the hell of communist prisons upon His Saints, innocent lambs, led to slaughter even by their own brothers, for the Name of Him, the Almighty. And their blood soaked the earth, and their prayers ascend to God the Word, the Emperor of Glory, Who gave you a powerful voice to comfort them; a harsh, victorious word in the face of the antichrists; a word He gave you, Father Nil, prophet of the persecuted, consuming with fire. We too shed tears of life over such martyrdom at His Cross, saying:

Alleluia!

Ikos 10

After mockery, imprisonment, and torture, they called you to trial to declare you insane and lock you up for life. But when you entered the courtroom, everyone’s eyes fell on you, for you looked more dead than
alive, and you looked everyone in the eye, crying out in a loud voice, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” – and the whole courtroom, young and old alike, trembled! And we bring you songs:

Rejoice, for while they unjustly accused you, you exorcised them and said to them in secret: “I forgive you!”

Rejoice, for false witnesses accused you, and you endured it, with prayer on your lips;

Rejoice, for they brought you with a mitre on your head and commanded you to take it off, but you refused; then the soldiers seized you;

Rejoice, for by the power of Christ, the soldiers in the hall could not throw you out;

Rejoice, for later you took off your cap, your head bruised, swollen, and covered with wounds for all to see;

Rejoice, for the people who saw you were moved, and the judge ordered you to put it back on your head;

Rejoice, for you did not want to do their unjust will this time either;

Rejoice, for you defended yourself, and your Jewish lawyer admired you;

Rejoice, for the witnesses for the prosecution, when questioned by you, now spoke well of you;

Rejoice, for 20 doctors examined you and declared you mentally sound;

Rejoice, for two hours you accused the communists at your trial of the martyr’s blood shed by Christians;

Rejoice, for they themselves, the wicked atheists, declared you innocent and acquitted you;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 11

On the eve of Easter, you were freed, Father Nil, when no one expected it, and at midnight you sang “Christ is risen!” with great joy, serving the Holy Liturgy in a gathering of priests. We also give glory to Him who wipes away the tears from every eye and does not hide the burning torch under a bushel, but sets it high, shining, to light up the distance, saying: Alleluia!

Ikos 11

And even more inflamed by the heavenly Word, you set out across the country like a spring breeze to thaw the people enslaved by communism from their atheism. Who will follow in your footsteps, Father Nil? With the Church behind you and the Holy Mysteries perfectly camouflaged, you became an
anonymous pilgrim in the wide world, serving the Sublime One, Who fulfills all things as He pleases.

You appeared from nowhere and seemed to be one of them, but you worked for the Kingdom, a living testimony to the victorious grace given to the saints in the last days, so that we may praise you:

Rejoice, true shepherd in times of apostasy, for you gave humble souls the Holy Communion to keep at home with the icon;

Rejoice, for the Lord Christ revealed to you to preach the faith in schools, hospitals, and prisons to every thirsty soul;

Rejoice, for in the Ciungi Mountains, under the cover of fir trees, you celebrated the Holy Liturgy, and doves and angels, with Holy Crosses, accompanied you in Theophany;

Rejoice, for in the mountains you fed only on the Holy Mysteries, and the shepherds came and listened to the heavenly Words;

Rejoice, for in your hermitage, where angels assisted you at the Liturgy, the birds of the sky and the beasts were your beloved parishioners;

Rejoice, for while you humbled yourself at the epiclesis, feeling like a worm on the ground, even the Mother of God covered you with her holy omophorion;

Rejoice, for you set out on the great and sublime sermon, where you saw the people in tears as they sighed during the night vigils;

Rejoice, for the news quickly spread that you were a gentle shepherd, so that Christians repented before you even arrived in their village and in their lives;

Rejoice, perfect model for liturgy in persecution, for you served Christ
continuously and without reproach;

Rejoice, for being persecuted, you liturgized in a dark house, and outside, Christians saw the Mother of God beside you;

Rejoice, for in Cetatea Albă you preached covered only with a sack, and people came from seven countries to see your face, for the sorrowful people;

Rejoice, for you confessed Christ and, like a madman with an icon in your arms, you set out against the atheists;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 12

Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot swallow it up—so you shone, Father, at the communist demonstration, when they marched through the streets with idolatrous banners, shouting false slogans. And you held up the icon of Christ and marched among them like a madman of Jesus, singing: Alleluia!

Ikos 12

You had no place to lay your head on earth, and you prophesied that you would have no place in the tomb either, because of so much persecution, unceasing and bitter. But the Living God raised you from the tomb of this age and welcomed you to the throne of glory, to sit with Him undefeated, crowned forever and ever, and blessed by us on earth:

Rejoice, for Christians hid themselves in fear of atheistic communism, and you brought the Church of God into their homes;

Rejoice, for through you great miracles were performed, so that the sick were healed on the spot;

Rejoice, for the priests of Brateș held a council and locked you in the village church;

Rejoice, for when the militia came to arrest you and unlocked the church door, they did not find you;

Rejoice, for you went from house to house with the Church on your back, sanctifying sinners through repentance and communion;

Rejoice, for you were always persecuted by the apostate clergy, but you remained fearless;

Rejoice, for you served the benefit of your people, and the rulers saw in you the priest of Christ;

Rejoice, for you preached diligently for the last three years and traveledthroughout the whole country;

Rejoice, for the places where you were not welcomed, the Lord punished them, so that they lay under the waters and perished;

Rejoice, barefoot and poor archpriest, who carried the King of Glory and gave Him for communion;

Rejoice, crown of the fiery logos, mad for Christ and great prophet;

Rejoice, chosen vessel for Theophany, for you had the spirit and power of Elijah;

Rejoice, Saint Nil, speaker of God!

Kontakion 13

Archbishop of Christ’s catacombs, who went from place to place in a sack, barefoot everywhere, carrying the Eucharistic Mystery under your poor clothes, and turning people to God with His heavenly Word, we pray: accept our song and bring down upon us the mercy of the all-honored Holy Trinity, to Whom we sing joyfully: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

(Read 3 times then: Ikos 1 and Kontakion 1)

Afterwards…

PRAYER AFTER THE AKATHIST TO OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, FATHER NIL DOROBANȚU THE FOOL FOR CHRIST OF ROMANIA AND HOLY THEOLOGIAN

O newly discovered prophet, seer of God, hierarch, you preached the Word to all during the communist persecution. You confessed Christ in the Eucharist, defended virgins, and rebuked hired shepherds of the flock of Christ. You received the grace of the Crucified and Victorious One, with Whom you united yourself through your martyrdom, our Father Nil the Fool for Christ, pray to the Lord that our souls may be saved.

You can listen to the Akathist being sung by Father Macarie Banu here: