Ioan Ianolide, a prisoner for over 20 years, had an exemplary behaviour at all times

From Gherla we went to Târgu Ocna with chains on our legs and handcuffs on our hands, all of us with sentences of more than 10 years. There they kept us in chains for another week and then took them off. Here we had other problems. Snitching, as it was called in the prison, was in full bloom.

Many people died without being treated, just because they didn’t want to snitch on others, that is, bring others to prison. I knew names… but I can no longer remember them. […]

But there were also outbursts of anger and the desire for blind revenge among the prisoners.

In such cases, the attitude of Ioan Ianolide (1919-1986) from Teleorman, a prisoner for more than 20 years, was well known. He always behaved in an exemplary manner and knew how to soothe and calm the rage of many against the informers, whom he always described as victims of the prison and of human weaknesses from which he himself often suffered.

(The complete writings of Blessed Elijah the Seer of God and his life, commented on by his disciple and son in the Lord, Pr. Dr. Dorin Octavian Picioruș. Vol. I, Theology for Today, Bucharest, 2010, p. 290)