Father Justin’s last years of detention, spent in the Danube Delta
Here we are in 1960, when Fr. Justin’s first period of imprisonment ends. But it seems that the gold had to be purified even more, because Fr. Justin’s “exile” did not end there. The cross of this nation’s suffering had yet to be borne by these dignitaries of Orthodoxy.
“I am a free man and I do what I want.[1] I am not afraid of people”.
This phrase, uttered by Father Justin in front of the communist interrogators, cost him another 4 years of hard imprisonment on top of the 12 he had already served. His words really meant: “I am a free man – from sin – and I do what I want – for God and for the good of my soul! In this context, freedom was defined as “freedom from sin”, as another great pillar of Romanian spirituality and dignity – Father Arsenie Boca – used to say. The only fear was that of God, because it is the only fear born of love that does not pervert the soul; the other fear – fear of man – is the expression of the inner deformation of the conscience, with destructive consequences.
“If we let you go now, what will you do?”, those in charge of “re-education” asked him. To which he replied serenely, “What I have done so far”.
So he was sent to the Danube Delta, where they applied an inhuman regime of work and mental torture of re-education, so that they were not allowed to speak to each other, not even to whisper.
“In the Delta, one morning it was drizzling outside, with snow and mud, and I had to lie down for a while because I had broken the rules. On Sunday, after lunch, the guards were after us:
“Bandits, you’re still bandits. Who believes in God to come out here?”
“Justine,” I said to myself, “now it’s time to rehabilitate yourself.”
I was in a queue there and I slipped in, trying to make my way through.
“What’s the matter with you, you little bandit?” “What’s the matter?” And they say, “Well, we’re all behind him!”
Punishment: 500 push-ups, a cannon for a great schemamonk. He kept us out in the cold and wind for four hours, and the mud dried on us”.
(Hieromonk Teognost – Father Justin Pârvu and the richness of a life given to Christ, Vol. I, Credința Strămoșească Publishing House, Iasi, 2006, pp. 195-196)
[1] “I do what I want” – Father Justin says it according to the law of the Christian faith, the right faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom he served with total dedication, even to the point of sacrifice. (n. ed)