“Father Galeriu, one of the best known and most loved priests in our Church”
With his simple name, unencumbered by the burden of academic and administrative titles, “Father Galeriu” was one of the best known and most beloved priests of our Church, because of his unrepeatable value and uniqueness.
With his true and beautiful name, Galeri Costachi, which I never understood why he kept it only in his documents, he was born in the beautiful land of Moldova, in the village of Răcătău, Horgești commune, Bacău county, on 21 November 1918, in a family of people with a strong faith in God and respect for their fellow men, Moldovan peasants, who planted in the soul of the young Costachi the love for the Church and the service of God.
They were the descendants of the just ruler Stephen the Great and Holy, who preserved and passed on from generation to generation the love of country, faith and nation, and the determination to defend the sacred ideals of the Romanian people.
After finishing elementary school, he attended the St. George Theological Seminary in Roman (1930-1938), then the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest between 1938 and 1942. Between 1957 and 1960 he attended doctoral courses at the Theological Institute of the University of Bucharest, specialising in theology. Dogmatics and Symbolism, under the scientific supervision of the great Professor Nicolae Chitescu. He completed his doctoral studies with the work “Jertfă și răscumpărare” (Sacrifice and Redemption), which he defended in 1973, his thesis being praised by the professors of the two Theological Institutes of Bucharest and Sibiu.
After a rich experience in the surroundings of the famous priest Toma Chiricuță from Bucharest and in the Christian associations of the time, the young theology graduate Costachi Galeri was ordained priest in the parish of Podul Văleni, Prahova County, In 1943, he was ordained a priest in the parish of Podul Văleni, Prahova County, where he shepherded with beautiful fruits until 1947, when he was transferred to the parish of St. Vasile in Ploiești, the place and environment where Fr. Galeriu was confirmed as an excellent pastor, preacher and shepherd of souls. He always served with great joy, with great presence and distinction, with his beautiful voice, well timed and warm, with baritone modulations difficult to imitate, imbued with the greatness and ineffable mystery of the liturgy, enlivening the service with his lively and convincing homily. His name and fame as an exceptional priest spread rapidly, and he became increasingly well known. This was also the reason why, in 1971, the worthy Patriarch Justinian called him to be a priest at the Theological Institute of the University of Bucharest and, at the same time, to be the pastor of the parish of St. Sylvester in the capital, of which he soon became the parish priest and where he carried out an admirable pastoral and administrative work.
His name is now associated with this parish and with the Theological Institute, where, after only one year of service as a deacon, he was appointed Professor of Fundamental Theology and History of Religions until 1977, when he was appointed, after a competitive examination, Professor of Homiletics and Catechetics with notions of Pedagogy, where he taught until his retirement in 1988, after which he continued to teach as an associate professor and doctoral supervisor in the discipline he taught until 2002. Many of his students have gone on to obtain academic doctorates in theology. 18 doctoral students have stayed on to continue their work[1].
If Father Constantin Galeriu carried out a beautiful and fruitful pastoral activity in the parish of St. Sylvester, where he managed to gather quality people, especially intellectuals, and his church became a crowded and reference point in the capital, his work in the department was no less important.
With his truly priestly face, always in his priestly garb, never seen and never imagined in civilian clothes, with his Tolstoyan figure, with his large, neat and unmistakable beard, with his sharp and mischievous, but always warm and loving gaze, with his neat hair and clothes, with his manly, baritone voice, resembling the thundering voice of the prophets, with the stylistic richness of his literary language, reminiscent of the beauty of the speech of St. John Chrysostom, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence, with his eloquence. St. John Chrysostom, with his oratorical talent, rarely found, with his thorough training, rooted in the two inexhaustible sources of inspiration, the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, Father Galeriu always spoke as beautifully as few like him, attracting students and the faithful and increasing his audience every day.
He spoke so easily and naturally, as if his words flowed like water from a spring. He never searched for complicated and bombastic expressions to impress, but everything came naturally. He had a phenomenal memory, quoting with ease from the Scriptures, the Philokalia and the Holy Fathers. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge and could discuss any subject. I remember accompanying him one summer to Păltiniș, the home of the great scholar and philosopher Constantine Noica. I was curious to see how the meeting would go. It was a pleasure to participate in the dialogue between the two. Father Galeriu was at home in philosophy. He was so well researched that one had the impression that he had left his dictionary, encyclopaedia or bibliographical source behind at that moment.
It was a great pleasure to challenge him to a discussion and discover how much he knew. It is a pity that he did not write his memoirs, because he had amazing data and information on the lives of important personalities of the Romanian nation and culture, and on the important events that took place during his lifetime in the history of the Romanian people. Father Galeriu taught his students homiletics and catechetics, or preaching and catechesis, not so much by theorising about them, but by speaking about them himself. Whether in St. Sylvester’s parish, St. Catherine’s parish, in the cathedral, in many large cities of the country, or on radio and television, Father Galeriu always spoke about God and the Christian faith. He had the conviction and the joy to talk about God and holy things. Even in exams with students, he would often speak himself to make sure that at least at the last moment the student heard what he needed to hear and know. As for grading students, he always did it generously, without bargaining or weighing the grades too much. He always went above and beyond and never tried to humiliate the students or show how much he knew about them, but was always restrained by the thought that the truth and the Word of God must be preached.
This explains why he always spoke convincingly and persuasively and was enthusiastic to the point of transfiguration when he spoke about God. His word was never superficial and boring, but fiery and stimulating. That is why he was much loved and appreciated by the students and believers who listened to him.
(Prof. Constantin Necula, speech at the funeral Mass of Fr. Galeriu, 13 August 2003 – Vestitorul Ortodoxiei, year XV (2003) no. 318-319, p. 2; Cf. And I was also the disciple/hearkeness of Father Galeriu, edited by Argentina Grămadă Dragu, Reproexpres Publishing House, Valencia, pp. 104-107)
[1] From the words of Fr. Prof. Dr. Vasile Gordon at the 3-month commemoration in the Faculty of Law Aula.