These days, His Grace Bishop Macarie is on a pastoral visit to the Romanians in the peninsula of Jutland, Denmark.

On Saturday, January 18, 2020, the Romanian hierarch celebrated the Holy Liturgy with the remembrance of the ones asleep in the Lord, and in the afternoon His Grace served the All-Night Vigil, in the Chapel of the Romanian Orthodox Monastery “Saints Hermits Macarius the Roman and John James the Chosebite” in Ikast, Denmark.

On Sunday, January 19, 2020, at the Feast of the Holy Saints Hermits Macarius the Great and Macarius of Alexandria, Father Macarie, together with a group of priests and deacons, celebrated the Holy Liturgy of the Feast in the Romanian parish of Vejle-Kolding. During the service, loud prayers were raised for the reunion of the family of doctor Camelia Smicala from Finland, separated by her children Johan-Mihail and Maria-Alexandra.

In his word of teaching, His Grace Macarie referred to the pain of this hard-fought mother, assuring her that she is not left alone: ​​“The pain of a mother is one of the greatest and deepest pains humanity knows. The grief of the mother cries to heaven in the difficult circumstances of life, especially when a mother is separated from her children, abducted or killed. There are many testimonies in the Holy Scripture: from the Old Testament, from Ritzpah, who saw her seven sons killed by the Gibeonites, and to Solomonia, the mother of the seven Maccabees brothers, who saw her sons killed before her, martyred by a cruel persecutor. And in the New Testament: from the grieving mothers who saw their babies killed by the restless and tyrannical Herod, and to the widowed mother of Nain at whose pain our Savior Jesus Christ performed the first miracle of the resurrection of her son. Also, we have the Canaanite mother, who prayed for her daughter tormented by demons, in a depth of humility, and in her unwavering faith, Jesus Christ comforted her, saying a few words He never said again: “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish”, and her daughter was cured at that time. But the greatest pain of a mother, which surpasses any pain, is that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through whose heart the sword of crucifixion and murder of her Son passed. Why do I tell you now about mother’s pain? Because not far from us, in Finland, a hard-tried and grieving mother is separated by her children against her will, children who also want to stay together with their mother. We pray constantly for the Romanian doctor Camelia-Mihaela Smicala, separated from her children Johan-Mihail and Maria-Alexandra. We constantly mention them in prayers and we partake in care for them with all our being. Yesterday I talked to her on the phone and she was hopeless. That is why, together we tell her: You are not alone, hard fought and endured mother! No matter how much you think God does not hear you and does not see you, know that it is not so. That is why I have now referred to these hardened and hard-fought mothers mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, whom God had mercy on, comforting and strengthening them. Dear mother Camelia-Mihaela, God sees you and hears you, and we are with you and we cannot remain indifferent, cold and careless about your mother’s pain. Just as King David once did not remain uncaring about the grief of Ritzpah, whose seven children were killed, just as King Solomon once did justice to a mother’s love, so in Christ we are with you, beloved mother, with all our being. Fear not! Christ bears you on His merciful arms, and we, in Christ, stand by you and assure you that just as God has been gracious to so many mothers, He will have mercy on you too!”

The church was attended by many believers who received icons from His Grace Father Macarie, and the children, after sharing with the Holy Sacraments, received several gifts from the bishop.