Father Sofian – A gentle figure and a deep believer in the Lord
In Bucharest I was taken to another, brighter room with a bed and a prisoner in it. He had a beard and long hair, his eyes were serene and full of piety. At first glance he seemed to be a monk, even a hieromonk.
Father Sofian Boghiu, a young virgin monk, dedicated his life to our Lord Jesus Christ and lived with several other young men in the seminary of Cernica until he was tonsured as a monk.
He was one of the monk-priests who, immediately after the occupation of the country by the Red Army, turned the Antim Monastery in Bucharest into a “Burning Bush”, where they served the Lord day and night without rest.
A gentle figure and a deep believer in the Lord, I shared the mattress of a single bed in the cell for a while. He listened to the story of my sufferings and strengthened me in my faith. I went to confession and confessed the sins of my youth, and he advised me to repeat my confession to a clothed priest after my release. I also told him about the favour Our Lady had shown me when she appeared to me in Lefortovo prison in Moscow. He believed me and urged me to write down the vision.
I also confessed to him my desire to become a monk if I were released, and he advised me that in the present situation it would be better for me to start a family because, as a former political prisoner, I would not be left alone to become a true monk.
We didn’t stay together for more than three weeks, but they were days of light and encouragement to live in Christ.
(Nicu Popescu Vorkuta – Crez și adevăr, Bucharest, 2009, pp. 264-265)