Mother Siluana: Healing starts when we stop running away from pain

Healing starts when we stop running away from pain and instead bring it before Christ. We should not be afraid of suffering – we should be afraid of suffering without meaning, without prayer, without hope.

God doesn’t ask us to be strong, but sincere. We should tell Him: “Lord, I cannot do this!” and then, His work will start. We should not hide our wounds, but place them in the palm of His hand. He will not judge us but will lift us up.

And when we will start learning to forgive ourselves, only then will we be able to truly love. Love heals. Repentance is love that cries. And from these tears, a new person emerges.

Mother Siluana Vlad (d. June 8, 2021)

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Mother Siluana - a short biography

Mother Siluana Vlad was the abbess of St. Silouan the Athonite Monastery and the coordinator of the Center for Formation and Counseling “Saint Archangels Michael and Gabriel” in Iasi, Romania.

Mother Siluana was born in 1944. She studied Philosophy at the University of Bucharest. Upon completion of her studies, she taught Philosophy at the University of Galati for one year. She started to be involved in social activities alongside young people, and after 1990 she was one of the founders of the Galati chapter of the Association of Romanian Christian Orthodox Students.

She started her monastic life by joining the Buciumeni Monastery in Galati County as a novice. She then went to Christiana Monastery in Bucharest, where she continued her charitable and social activities, focusing on improving the lives of vagrant children and on offering guidance to young people.

She was tonsured as a nun in 2001, then moved to Jitianu Monastery next to Craiova. With the blessing of His Eminence Teofan, at the time the Metropolitan of Oltenia, Mother Siluana founded there the Center for Formation and Counseling “Saint Archangels Michael and Gabriel”. Mother Siluana moved to Iasi in 2008, and the Center has been functioning in that city ever since. Mother Siluana, together with a group of nuns, also founded the St. Silouan the Athonite Monastery upon their arrival in Iasi.

In the many conferences and seminars she held around and outside Romania, Mother Siluana addressed important topics such as relationships between young people, stages of love, family in the contemporary society, causes of depression in modern man, knowing oneself, spiritual life, and many others.

Mother Siluana fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday, June 8th 2021, just a few days after turning 77 years old.

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A collection of Mother Siluana’s books translated into English is available from St. George Press.

There is also a YouTube channel dedicated to Mother Siluana, with many video clips subtitled in English.