Archim. Ioanichie Balan: Twenty counsels
Strive to keep silent as much as you can.
Strive to be meek in everything and at all times.
Strive to be obedient - sincerely, completely, genuinely.
Strive to eliminate all thoughts of pride from your mind and heart.
Seek to be humble - not to seem humble on the outside, but to be humble in your heart.
Flee hateful anger altogether.
Seek not to judge anyone as long as you live.
Gain much patience for yourself because you will have many sorrows in your life.
So that you can be strengthened in holy obedience, patience, and love, you must pray to God without ceasing.
Flee from sloth as from fire. Cast out laziness, boredom, idleness, insensibility of the soul.
Seek to thank God for everything He gives you, good or bad.
Don’t ever be fully content with what you do.
Forgive everything to everyone, and you will also be forgiven.
Seek peace for everyone, and you will have peace.
Seek first what is good and useful for your neighbor.
Seek comfort only in prayer.
Seek the Lord in your sorrows.
Hide in the cell of your heart.
Most of all, when sitting in your cell or wherever you are, keep the thought of your death as an unceasing prayer.
Ask continuously in your prayers, day and night, with great pain, sorrow, and humility - ask for the gift of tears.
Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan: a short biography
Father Ioanichie was born on February 10, 1930, in Stanita, Neamt County. His baptismal name was Ioan.
After graduating from high school, he entered the Sihastria Monastery on November 4, 1949. He was tonsured as a monk on April 14, 1953, and he was ordained a deacon on April 15, 1953.
Between 1949 and 1971, he served as treasurer, bookkeeper, secretary, and visitor guide at Sihastria Monastery.
Between 1971 and 1990, Father Ioanichie Balan lived at Bistrita Monastery, Neamt County. He attended the School of Theology in Bucharest from 1971 to 1975, and he graduated with a Thesis on “Images of experienced monastics in Neamt monasteries.”
Hierodeacon Ioanichie Balan was ordained as a priest by Patriarch Teoctist of Romania on February 2, 1979. He was given the rank of Protosyngellos in 1984 and of Archimandrite in 1992. He returned to Sihastria Monastery in 1990 and continued his missionary and publishing activities there.
In his almost 60 years of monastic life, Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan distinguished himself as a witness to the Orthodox faith during the communist regime’s rule in Romania. He was also a recognized historian of monastic life, leaving his mark on Romanian culture through books such as the “Romanian Paterikon,” “Centers of hesychast life in Romania,” “The Life of Elder Cleopa,” “The Life of Elder Paisie” and others.
Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan is remembered by the Orthodox faithful in Romania as one of the great spiritual fathers of the country. He fell asleep in the Lord on November 22, 2007, and is buried at Sihastria Monastery.
“I became attached to the monks, to their simplicity, to the pure hearts of both young and old brethren, to their sincerity, and I enrolled with them to serve the Church. And I also felt chosen by the Lord’s hand without knowing how exactly. The only thing I know is that to this day, I have never regretted entering monastic life. And I have felt this as a sign that God has protected me and guided my steps on this spiritual path.” - Archim. Ioanichie Balan