Radu Vodă Monastery

Beneath the church at Radu Vodă

are thousands,

*

perhaps tens of thousands,

of squares of paper

*

seen through

semi-opaque panels in the floor.

*

The faithful file in every day, all day,

queuing to venerate the relics

*

of Saint Nektarios, or to read

their Akathists on bended knees.

*

Only a thin space separates silence

from murmured prayers and confessions.

*

The fragrance of heaven lingers,

hanging like clouds in the nave.

*

A shelf along the north wall

holds two small boxes,

*

some pencils,

stacks of paper

*

cut into squares.

The boxes are labeled

*

“Vii” and “Morti”.

Petitioners print names

*

onto the papers,

drop them into the boxes,

*

either “Vii” or “Morti”,

where they await the monks

*

who will remove them,

to commemorate the souls

*

whose names they read

as they pray the cycle of the day.

*

From there, the papers make their way

beneath the floor,

*

to absorb the scent of incense

and the tears of supplication,

*

offered in love

by those standing above

*

in the Radu Vodă Monastery.