“He was a priest with whom conversation was a spiritual bath and an enrichment.”
The days passed quickly in Jilava Fortress. From one day to the next, we all waited to leave. Especially us newcomers.
The mornings began with a silent prayer led by Father Iovan, to which Mr Blăgoianu responded from his bed. On Sundays there was a real Liturgy, which lasted until almost midday. Then the priest would hear confessions and take communion, sometimes giving canons according to the errors. I don’t know how he managed to keep a silver cross, one of those used in the church. He also had a bottle of tonic wine, unexpectedly received from the doctor’s office, which he used to give communion to the prisoners.
He was a private and meditative man who only dealt with religious matters. He was the priest of the Vladimirești monastery, which the Securitate forces had closed down because it had become a place of pilgrimage for people hungry for truth and justice. All the Communists want is to keep the Church as walls, museums and institutions, and to kill its spirituality and faith. He had rejected this. Even though he was endlessly mistreated in prison, he always reminded us that we must not hate and be malicious. God sees all and will judge. Let us worship and say “God forgive them”.
In the evenings we had all sorts of discussions. Once I asked Father Iovan what he believed. He replied that the Bible clearly says not to disturb the souls of the dead because it is a great sin. He believed that the process of calling the souls of the dead belonged to the impure and it was not good to work with it in any way.
I went to confession and received communion from him and listened to him talk about Christianity and religion. He was a man and a priest with whom conversation was a spiritual bath and an enrichment. “There is only one God in the world, no matter how many religions there are,” he said. Every religion has something good in it, but the Christian religion is the religion of truth, of love, of man”. If you are empty of truth and love, you are completely empty inside. Our religion is the religion of love for our fellow man and the love of Jesus-God. God made Christianity to fit the needs of man. Wide enough to give you freedom of action and narrow enough to prevent you from making mistakes. Of course, all people make mistakes, but going beyond Christian and human boundaries can bring you close to Satan. True faith makes it easier and gives you a balance in life, wherever you are, because when you think of God, He is at your side and nothing can threaten you.
I think that Father Iovan helped me to level my inner path. Since then, with each day, with each step, I have found myself more and more, and I have finally managed to achieve a strong balance of my own, although I have been shaken again over many years.
(Nicolae Dima, Memories from Prison, Romanian Cultural Association Library, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1974, pp. 62-64)