Confessions of the readers (en)

Delia: “My life has changed radically since the mysterious encounter, through the world of books, with the Saints of prisons”

When I read about the campaign “Confessors in Communist Prisons Bring People to Christ”, I was moved and I realised that I belong to a blessed group, namely the group of those who have been brought to Christ by prison martyrs. It is only now that I understand that there are many of us, that there is indeed a work in the spirit of those who have been sacrificed in prisons, that the witness they give to the world and to Christ touches souls in a special way. Beyond the very strong emotional impact that reading testimonies of suffering during […]

Constanța: “This book has remained in my heart as the most beautiful lesson in religion…”

We were in our final year of secondary school in 1996 when our Romanian language teacher, Elena Corbu, recommended that we read The Diary of Happiness by Nicolae Steinhardt. “You will have to read it with the dictionary beside you, and it won’t be easy for you to finish it, but you have to!” – said the teacher. I was one of those who followed her advice and have since recommended this book to anyone who asks me what else is worth reading, and continue to do so. Of the many spiritual riches I took away from The Diary of […]

Ștefan: “I came to the understanding that we have so many saints I didn’t know about, so many confessors!”

About how God has changed me and set me on the right path to boldly work His commandments and through Him glorify the Holy Confessors who suffered and endured persecutions and the fires of hell, hoping and believing in the One God, the Triune God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen! My testimony and story begins one winter, a year ago. While I was at work, I had the opportunity and often the free time to get to know God and understand His holy will by reading spiritual books. Since I am a Romanian from the […]

Diana: “Thanks to them we have the chance to rediscover our identity and to seek the path of our salvation”

Learning about the Confessing saints, reading about their deeds, their sufferings and their sacrifice in Christ, I felt that my soul had been made whole forever. Love for them was what I had lacked until I met them. In Aiud, on the ground consecrated with their blood, in front of their relics, I experienced the most paradoxical feeling of heartbreaking pain and touching joy at the same time. Thanks to them, we have the chance to rediscover our identity and, enlightened by their example, to seek the path of salvation for ourselves and our children. We have the duty to […]

Lavinia: “Saints of the prisons are the soul of this country!”

The Saints of the communist prisons are the soul of this country. Our beloved saints have carried with them all the pain and all the love that only souls wounded by love for Christ can have. Beyond our ability to comprehend their earthly lives and the soul-crushing pain of what they experienced, they now pray for us. And it is a great pity that we do not have them in the Synods of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The prison saints are a model to follow, our children should learn about them in history and especially in their religion books. Their […]

Andreea: “Return to Christ” was the alarm clock that woke me up from the sleep of ignorance.

“Return to Christ” by Ioan Ianolide was the alarm that woke me up from the sleep of ignorance, it was the alarm that saved me from the tsunami of ideas and false knowledge. As I savoured this “Document for a New World”, I felt that I was indeed preparing myself for a new life. I could not express what I felt when I learned about the martyrdom of the prisoners in the communist prisons. I was overwhelmed with their pain and suffering. But the love… the love, hope and true faith they showed made my heart rejoice, lifted my spirit […]

Mihai: “I see in all these martyrs and confessors of Christ asceticism perfected by love at the highest level”

A year and a half ago, as a new Orthodox believer, I came across the book “Poets Behind Bars”. Some time later, I was also introduced to the testimonies of Bessarabian Romanians in the book “Don’t Avenge Us!”, edited by Fr. Moise of Oașa Monastery, and now, as I write these lines, I am reading the volume “The Saint of Prisons”. When I came to Orthodoxy, I asked myself: What is this Orthodoxy? How is it different from other religions? How is it unique? I looked for books that would help me to understand it and also to deepen it. […]

Mihaela: “When I encounter difficult moments in life I think of the suffering of the confessors and so any trouble seems small compared to their cross”

When I have moments of difficulty, discontent or thoughts of grumbling, I think of the suffering of the witnesses, of the fact that their youth was taken away from them with all their dreams of fulfilment on any level (family, professional, social, etc.) and so any trouble/trial/failure seems small compared to their cross. (Mihaela Sofica)

Andru: “Their lives are living proof that a beautiful relationship with Christ makes you indestructible in the face of the world’s problems”

To my shame, I haven’t read much about these holy heroes of our nation, but what I have read makes me ashamed to complain about certain things. To draw a parallel with them, they suffered and grew in virtue, and I do not suffer, in fact I have everything, and instead of growing in virtue, I decline and go to the passions. They have become saints, and I struggle in the misery of sin, although no one persecutes me. Their lives are living proof that a beautiful relationship with Christ makes one indestructible in the face of the problems of […]

Sergiu: “God works where you don’t expect it through His saints, confessors in the communist dungeons”

In the warm waves of spring light, amidst the maternal sighs of May flowers, I had the spiritual joy of entering the strange land of Gherla Prison on the occasion of the feast of St. Evgeny Rodionov. Evgeny Rodionov (23 May 2012), with the beautiful intention of proclaiming to those imprisoned here the mutilation of a child of only 19 years, who preferred to deny himself to this deceitful world in the sincere hope of the resurrection in Christ, rather than accept the denial of Christ and the renunciation of the victory of the Cross.

Mirela: “For me the Holy Martyrs are a model of sacrifice and dedication in and for Christ”

I knew absolutely nothing about the Holy Martyrs, about their sacrifice for the nation, until, by the grace of God, in a moment of confusion and despair, a book about Valeriu Gafencu fell into my hands. Five years ago, at the age of 24, I was diagnosed with advanced lymphatic cancer. I can say that this was the moment when God, through the Holy Martyrs, tried to bring me back to the faith. I began to search, to pray, to visit the saints as often as I could, to read about the sufferings I had endured, and the fruits did […]

Luciana: “We are not in our essence a cowardly, lying, thieving, corrupt people, as others try to label us”

In fact, the most moving book I have read is “Return to Christ. Document for a New World”, written by one of the most prominent Romanians, Ioan Ianolide. I read and cried; I cried and read this particular book that I would never have believed to exist. I didn’t know that such books had been written, I didn’t know about the atrocities of communism, because at school our teachers didn’t teach us such things, or perhaps they deliberately hid them from us. For some time now I have been searching for the truth, for the true history of our people, […]