Hiding and spreading of the spiritual books

[Valeriu Gafencu n.n.] managed to save a Bible from the initial searches. He opened it in bundles and managed, by risky means, to pass it on to other cells. Parts of the Bible were then memorised, in particular Chapter 13 of the Letter to the Corinthians, the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John, Psalm 50 and the Psalms of the Matins.

The fascicles were distributed throughout the dungeon and were eagerly followed by the jailers. If one was found in a cell, all were punished. Separate, partial and some general searches were carried out in order to find all the fascicles. They were hidden in straw mattresses or under floorboards. So the mattresses were emptied and the floorboards searched, and even removed if there was a suspicious clue.

By the time all the bundles were gone it was too late, as many had already been memorised. They continued to be passed on verbally or by prison methods of communication: writing on soap, with a pinch of wire or a sharp piece of wood; writing on cell walls (which were painted and repainted by prisoners); sending messages in Morse code. In addition to Gospel texts, prayers, hymns, poems, quotations, stories from the lives of the saints or short words of wisdom were spread in the same way.

(Ioan Ianolide – Return to Christ. Document for a new world)