Fr. Crăciun Opre (en)

The life of the Father with the name of a feast day, Crăciun (Christmas) Oprea

Childhood Crăciun Oprea was born on 17 June 1925 in the village of Cărăsău (Bihor), near the Codru Mountains, to Crăciun Oprea and Saveta Oprea. Joyful and holy as a feast, was not only his name, but also his custom, because all his life Father cherished it as a feast and perfected it through an honest and pious life, but also through hard sufferings that purified his soul like gold in a crucible. From his parents he received a fine Christian upbringing, marked by good sense, honesty and, above all, the fear of God. Describing his childhood and the goodness […]

“I have never met such a man!”

I first “met” Father Crăciun in the monastery of Cioara. We were looking for a confessor, not really knowing what that meant or where to go. A priest there, after talking to us for a few hours, directed us to the house and told us: “What are you doing here? You need someone closer to you, someone you can talk to often. And you have a wonderful priest in Cinciș – Father Crăciun Opre. If you choose him as your confessor, you won’t regret it and you’ll benefit a lot”. So God directed our steps to Father Crăciun, who was […]

Words for the spiritual life

Conversation with Father Oprea Crăciun from Hunedoara Shall I kiss your hand, Father? Healthy? How’s your back? It helps me to humble myself. When I want to be proud, my back hurts. But I suppose I should be consoled by the fact that a law has now been passed that all those who suffered under communism will receive compensation for their losses, for their suffering there. And not just them, but their wives, children and grandchildren. But that too can be politics. And they boasted that they were sending me, that I was with them in the lot, with the […]

“And so much warmth and kindness were coming from him…”

It does not matter how my 31 years of life passed until 2010, when God decided to help me by leading my steps to the monastery of Prislop, to the tomb of Father Arsenie Boca. I was on holiday and when I arrived in the Hunedoara area, I remembered that somewhere, I don’t know where or what, I had heard about Father Arsenie. The day that I knelt down at his cross for the first time was the first day of the rest of my life: at that moment a profound change began in me, I left there all the […]

Father Crăciun Opre – Caring, loving, devoted, gentle and understanding, ready to help everyone.

Father Crăciun Opre has been and will continue to be much praised, for his life was a special one, full of miracles and God’s interventions in it. All the stages of his earthly existence showed him to be a chosen vessel, specially prepared by the Creator of all, to glorify His name on earth through the profession of faith and to help many through the consolation of his charity. All those who knew him and enjoyed the light of his presence and the usefulness of his words could not fail to notice his particular refinement, his absolutely amazing intelligence and […]

Akathist threads at a tearful meeting

Years ago, in an early spring, in one of the villages of Hunedoara, forgotten by the world (but not by its vicissitudes), I met a priest. A servant of Christ, in the truest sense of the word. I had heard people speak of Father Crăciun Opre with great suspicion and respect. I had noticed him, very discreetly and until then, on various spiritual occasions, serving or retiring somewhere to pray in silence… Now I was looking for him to tell me something about his development, what he was hiding behind his always disarming serenity and joy. He was reluctant to […]