“If you sat for an hour with Father Ghiuș, you would come out completely purified”

The spiritual fathers I have known in my life and who have influenced me are almost all in the cemetery… Among them, Father Benedict Ghiuș, a lesser known confessor, occupies a place of honour for me because he was a man of rare spiritual intimacy. He did not expose himself. He was elected Bishop of Argeș, more or less against his will, because Nichifor Crainic nominated him. He was the confessor of the “Burning Bush” movement in the monastery of Antim.

It was to him that we made our confessions, he gave us the blessing to begin the prayer of the heart. He was much sought after by intellectuals, but he was so modest that he would consult with all the monks, simple as they were. If you sat down with Father Ghiuș for an hour, you came out completely purified, because this man lived the faith on a grand scale. He was not a popular confessor. He was the confessor of the Bucharest intelligentsia. He didn’t confess to the simple world because, in my opinion, people couldn’t understand what he was saying. He was very profound and sophisticated. University professors, such as Alexandru Codin Mironescu, Paul Stelian, the doctor and poet Vasile Voiculescu, all confessed to Father Benedict Ghiuș. He was a model. You only had to look at him. It was enough for me to see him. Spirituality came naturally from him.

(Pr. Roman Braga – Formula AS Magazine, year 2013, no. 1059, interview fragment by Cirstian Curte)