Father Vasile Aileni’s journey to St. Nicholas Roman Orthodox Church

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Father Vasile Aileni’s journey to St. Nicholas Roman Orthodox Church

SHREWSBURY – Father Vasile Aileni’s journey to becoming a priest took many turns.

“No matter how well people look, so many of us feel lost, lonely, and anxious,” said Aileni, who serves at St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church. “Our hope is when people walk through the doors of our church they feel accepted, forgiven, and loved.”

After working in law enforcement and as an IT consultant, he was introduced to All Saints Romanian Orthodox church in Toronto. He became active in the church and later returned part-time to school with the goal of becoming ordained while also supporting his wife and three children.

Aileni was ordained in 2013. He served as the priest of his church for 10 years before he was asked by His Eminence Nicholai Metropolitan to consider coming to St. Nicholas, located at 34 Gold St. in Shrewsbury.

Decades ago, the congregation was composed primarily of people who had moved to Central Mass. from Romania. St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church is now very diverse with the overwhelming majority of members no longer of Romanian background.

“Our mission is to bring people of any color, background, or language to our family here at St. Nicholas, and extend our love to them,” said Aileni. “No church is filled with saintly people, but imperfect people.”

According to Aileni, the St. Nicholas community was larger in the 1950s because as people immigrated to the area, they brought their faith with them. Over the past two to three generations, people in the United States have become more secular and less interested in a relationship with God or the church.

“But no matter how well-off people are financially, if people don’t have faith and God they end up lonely, anxious, and depressed, which we see all around us,” said Aileni. “I see so many people who are suffering because they don’t have God in their lives and they don’t have many others who care about them, which you can experience in a church community.”
“We want to bring people back home,” he said.

St. Nicholas Church is unique in that it is home to relics from two saints – St. Nicholas and St. Nektarios. According to Aileni, the relics are important as signs of God.

“We experience many different signs of God, from sunrises to loving relationships in our own lives,” he said. “These relics are small parts of these saints’ bodies, and they are signs of God and for some, a way to deepen their relationships between themselves and saints and God.”

The congregation is growing, and there are many ongoing ministries and programs such as the choir and catechism classes. The church is also involved in a number of community projects such as electronics recycling.

“If you find yourself feeling lonely and lost and anxious and without a community to care about you, come and see us,” Aileni said.

Sunday service is at 9 a.m., or visit the church’s website at: www.stnicholaschurch.org for additional information.

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