Fr. Arsenie Boca (en)

Father Arsenios Boca – a servant of the Lord, a servant for the people

At many moments in the history of Christianity we find fathers whom God has endowed with the grace of loving humanity, as our Saviour urges us to do. Out of love for his creation, God has given people spiritual models to guide the faithful on the Good Way. One such model is Father Arsenios Boca. The case of Father Arsenios is famous. But how famous is another matter. As the archives are unearthed and researched, we are getting a clearer picture of this important case in the history of Romanian monasticism. Below are some illustrative passages from a forthcoming book. […]

Martyrdom of Father Arsenius in the mill of Kalusek

As in all places in the country, the headquarters of the Regional Security of Brașov had been installed in one of the most beautiful houses in the city, the villa of the liberal leader Mihai Popovici, at some distance from the neighbouring buildings. (…) I was in custody, in a common cell. In front of us was the image of a wartime field hospital. On a bunk bed, silent people lay side by side, their faces contorted due to suffering. When they saw us, one moment they sprang to life, the next they retreated one by one into a controlled […]

“At Securitate, Father Arsenios a pillar of light for the tormented and desperate souls”

In the morning we were handcuffed and taken to Brașov, to the Securitate, to the villa “Popovici” and they put us in a room where there was a terrible noise. There was a wardrobe and a man opened the door and put me in this wardrobe and I felt like I was suffocating. They pulled me out, cursing and beating me. They put me in a small cell, so small you could only stand up, where there was a high voltage light that blinded you, there was also damp, dirt and it smelled of urine. I was kept there for, […]

Father Arsenius – comforter of the hungry in prison

About an hour later, towards evening, I was taken to a corridor just inside the perimeter of the Popovici villa.[1] (…) I was handed over to a guard dressed in the old uniform of the former policemen. (…) – They gave me something to eat, and here came the monk Arsenios Boca, the one from Sâmbăta, he’s here too, he’s allowed to sit on the terrace, but he doesn’t work miracles here any more! I don’t know how to interpret what the guard said. Shortly afterwards, Father Arsenios appeared, dressed in his monk’s habit, and placed an enamelled bowl on […]

The confession of the colonel who arrested Father Arsenie at Sâmbăta Monastery

I remember an interesting episode at Sâmbăta Monastery. I was staying at the monastery at the time. And one day a gentleman came from the city of Victoria, dressed in civilian clothes… and asked me my name and how long I’d been in the monastery. And he said to me: “Do you know who I am?” “How should I know?” I laughed! Why should I know everybody, I can’t know them. And he said, “I’ll tell you who I am. I’m the colonel who arrested Father Arsenios.” I was so scared! It gave me the creeps! I said: You didn’t […]

Father Arsenios Boca – manhood and holiness

A confessor and clairvoyant who became a legend, a great living man, but also a great scholar, theologian and icon painter, “Father Arsenios Boca was a unique phenomenon in the history of Romanian monasticism” (D. Stăniloae). Father Arsenios, who died shortly before the collapse of the old communist regime (which he is said to have prophesied), rests in the monastery of Prislop, the monastery where he was first exiled by the communists and which eventually became his home. His footprints remain indelible in the Romanian Orthodox spirituality, sanctifying all the places he visited, from Făgăraș to Hațeg and from Sinaia […]

Fr. Arsenios Boca, the painter of souls

“Each one of us is the painter of his own life: the soul is the canvas, the virtues are the colours, and Christ is the model we must paint”. This is how St. Gregory of Nyssa expresses himself in one of his writings. In the same way, Father Arsenios Boca first painted the icon of the Lord in his being so that he could later work in the hearts of those who wanted to be close to Christ. He was a leader of souls in Romania in the last century, engraved in the hearts of those who knew him as […]

Father Arsenios – “When he had something to say, he was unstoppable”

When you sit next to Father Pantelimon, you feel the need to whisper so as not to disturb him. He is neither hard or soft. He is simply ascetic, always withdrawn into himself, with his thoughts and his uninterrupted prayer. He had suffered much, enough for many lifetimes, but everything had disappeared from his long, bony face – the blows, the blows of the crowbar, the tears of humiliation, which he always called “joys”. The joys of penitence and patience. Now, on the pearly whites of his cheeks, you can read only forgiveness and a silent smile, the smile of […]

“Forgive me, father”

What I can say is that Father had strength. When I first entered the church, I sat on the right and my wife on the left, some distance away. After the Holy Liturgy, he came over and pointed at me and then at my wife. He picked us out of the crowd, and I still wonder how he knew we were husband and wife. Then he took us aside and spoke to us. He scolded me for not having much faith, and to my wife, who had problems with her finger and seen five doctors in vain, he said: “Miss, […]

“Every night, at midnight, the prison doors opened by themselves.”

I had an uncle who was a Securitate officer in Brașov in ’48. I was young and I used to go to Brașov and stay with him for a week so I could see the world. I used to go with him in the evenings, wherever he had business, he would take me to work, and that’s how I found out what I’m going to tell you next. The Securitate police took Father Arsenios away from Sâmbăta because he was known to work miracles and crowds of people came to see him. In 1944, for example, he told the people […]

Father Arsenios Boca and the Securitate men

Father placed the wooden table against the eastern wall, turning it into a small altar, on which he placed everything he had in the small bowl he had brought from his cell in the Brâncoveanu monastery. He lit a candle on a wooden candlestick with a match from the only box he had taken with him in the bowl. Next to it he placed the Holy Cross and the Holy Gospel. Kneeling on the cold slab, Father immediately entered the world of great divine spirituality, thanking Almighty God for the outpouring of His grace on his human existence. After a […]

Autobiography given in the custody of the Securitate (17 July 1945)

I was born on 29 September 1910 in Vața de Sus, Hunedoara County. I attended primary and secondary school in the small town of Brad, in the same county. From that time I noticed a certain inclination towards solitude and religious matters, even beyond my powers at that time. For example, I have a book by Immanuel Kant: “Religion within the Limits of Reason”: “Boca Zian cl. IV. lic.” When I entered secondary school, I was orphaned by my father, who was a shoemaker by trade and a very good teacher of his son. I still remember that he once […]

Statement given in the Security Prison (7 June 1948)

Declaration I, the undersigned, Hieromonk Arsenios Boca, of the Brâncoveanu Monastery, Sâmbăta de Sus-Făgăraș, declare the following: Q: “When did you join the legionary movement?” A: I never joined the legionary movement. Q: “Who did enrol you?” A: By not enlisting, no one enlisted me. Q: “If you were a sympathiser?” A: Neutral and apolitical. Q: “Which legionnaires did you know?” A: When I was in Bucharest for my studies, between 1933 and 1938, I saw Captain Codreanu, but I never spoke to him. I knew Pătrașcu, but only because he went to confession in the monastery. He went to […]

Note of the informer “Timothy” (November 27, 1963)

Received: Capt. Alecsu Șt. Source: “Timothy” Date: 27.11.1963, 8.00-9.00 a.m. Home: “Văleni”. Next meeting: 11.12.1963, 8.00 a.m. 304 TOP SECRET Informative note During the months of October and November, Boca was visited by several people, especially women from Transylvania. Due to the measures taken by the management of the institution not to allow foreigners into the workshops, in most cases Boca was called downstairs to talk to the people who came to him. I have found that most of the people who come to see Boca are motivated by a religious feeling and come to see him as a […]

Note of the informer “Nicoară Iulian” (February 4, 1964)

MAY Sibiu County Office Received by: Major Surd Dumitru Agent: “Nicoară Iulian” Home: “Tribuna Date: 4th February 1964 TOP SECRET SC 1181 Ex. no. … Informative note I knew Boca Zian when he was a theology student in Sibiu, around 1928-1930. He was a well-behaved, modest and poor student. In his studies he was one of the average students. He didn’t stand out from the crowd, neither from his teachers or from his colleagues. In addition to his usual studies, he engaged in drawing and painting. After finishing his studies, he expressed his wish to become a monk, which attracted […]

Note of the informer “Florică” (5 February 1965)

Recipient: Lt. Maj. Băjenaru Șt. Source: “Florică” Location: House “Mogoșoaia” Date: 5.02.1965 304/1/9.11.1965 TOP SECRET Ex. No. 1 Informative note I have known Arsenios Boca since 1936, when he attended the School of Fine Arts and lived in the boarding school for theology students in Radu Vodă Street. He studied theology in Sibiu and first became a celibate deacon. He then entered monasticism and spent some time on Mount Athos. When he came to the country, he was appointed abbot of the Sâmbăta de Sus monastery. Here he was particularly active in religious life, preaching to the faithful who visited […]