Fr. Arsenie Papacioc (en)

Whoever opens the pages of the Paterikon may be surprised by the large number of “elements”, considered dangerous to society, who have retreated to the silence of the desert to lament their sins and find God. Were they all sincere in their quest, or was it a means of hiding their less than honourable past under the guise of religion? Could self-imposed asceticism ever make up for the mistakes of youth? The Christian answer to these questions is well known, but it was far from convincing to the enemies of Christ’s religion. During the period when Romania was under the […]

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Interview with Father Arsenie Papacioc: I went to Aiud and filmed in the ossuary. There is a lot of political pressure to cover up all the sacrifices of those who died in Aiud. The ossuary was built with great difficulty. Now, with great difficulty, a body of cells has been built. They want to build a monastery there. Father Justin Pârvu has been there several times and is still trying to find the formula to finally build a church. For those who don’t know what it was like in Aiud, perhaps not out of bad faith but out of ignorance, […]

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“I looked at you to see your faces, only, only, in this way I could see your hearts. The fact that you are here makes me understand that you are concerned with the problem of salvation, but more rationally. I’d like to talk about something that will move you. Not theory. You must fly with both wings, vertically, without the slightest deviation. For what Christ has done for us, not the slightest deviation is allowed. And if it happens, let it be without our will, let us seek the confessor and let us untie ourselves. For no calamity means anything […]

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Dear Archimandrite Arsenie, first of all, allow me to wish you a sincere and warm “Happy New Year” on the occasion of your birthday, and also to thank you very much for your love in granting me this interview, and then to ask you: what do you recommend above all to Christians who want to grow in the spiritual life? I recommend a state of inner, interior joy, in the heart, a state that means unceasing prayer. A state of true joy, detached from the problems of life, from the problems of life’s paths, from one and the other. A […]

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At the Burning Bush trial in November 1958, Father Arsenie Papacioc was sentenced to 20 years’ hard labour. He was accused of “conspiracy against the social order”, but the communist authorities knew very well that his main crime was his ability to lead people on the path of faith, in total contradiction to the aspirations of the regime. After his conviction, the priest was sent to the terrible prison of Aiud, where he had been imprisoned before 1948. But the prison regime was different. It was a regime of physical extermination for re-education according to the wishes of the communist […]

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On 8 September 1946, Anghel Papacioc walked out of the gates of the Aiud prison. He was serving a sentence for so-called participation in the events of January 1941. He had passed through Vaslui and Aiud prisons. He had undergone a spiritual transformation in the group of mystic prisoners. He had sculpted the royal doors of the prison chapel in Brasov and had made the Ark for the Vladimirești Monastery, representing the church of the Argeș Monastery in miniature. He practised the prayer of the heart, assimilated the works of the Holy Fathers, meditated deeply on the sacrifice of his […]

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In the summer of 1942 I was transferred with other young men to Vaslui Prison. There was no cell regime here, the building had been designed for a normal school, which, after being abolished by Charles II in 1938, had been converted into a prison. The dormitories were the former classrooms, with wooden bunk beds where 25-30 people could sleep. This was also where they worked. Opposite the prison was the Vaslueț Valley. In this valley we had opened a brickworks to build a fence around the prison to replace the barbed wire fence. […] On this site we spent […]

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Until the 15th of November we enjoyed an “extra” diet, we even stocked up on potatoes and fruit for the winter, especially apples, and were allowed to prepare boiled potatoes or porridge in the cell by the gas lamps improvised by our comrades. We only worked on potatoes and grapes for two weeks. I was in the cell with Anghel Papacioc, now Archimandrite Arsenie of Techirghiol. As he needed constant help, I stayed to look after him. I could cook him one or two potatoes a day from the reserves, but he couldn’t eat more than that. We spent our […]

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Here is the first of the former acquaintances who have now arrived in Aiud. The monk Arsenie Papacioc, released in 1946, was back. A sculptor by profession, he had made some very beautiful gates before his release, proving that he was a talented sculptor. Very faithful and gentle, with a religious vocation that was evident before his release, I didn’t think that he would end up in prison ever again. He now presented himself as a superior monk, with a beautiful life and a deeply Christian spirit. He had the notes of a chosen monk. He was a monk in […]

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Hieromonk Arsenius: small, weak, sharp and alive, great confessor, uncompromising man. The little great one. He became a monk by vocation. A virginal soul and body, a character of integrity. Boundless energy and immense power of love. A man of struggle and sacrifice. Conscience and missionary capacity. He made promises before and after his monastic vows. He fought to impose his true conscience on Christians and succeeded. A tested fighter, he said: We face the atheists in their backyard. He is a beacon of Christ. (John Ianolide – Return to Christ. Document for a New World, Bonifaciu Publishing House, Bucharest, […]

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