Nicolae Țoțea – the mystic who patiently bore the nation’s cross

We were taken across the road to the cell in the inside corner of the Section [1]. There are many comrades here. […]

The last one is the famous Nicolae Țoțea, who has been in prison for almost two decades. A man who has spent most of his life in prison. When you look at him and think about it, you get the chills! […]

Poor Nicolae Țoțea carries his cross on the endless ordeal of his youth. He was a graduate of the Normal School[2] when he was sent to prison in 1941. After a quarter of a century in prison, he will probably come out only to die. But he did not lose his faith. Like all old prisoners, Țoțea is a mystic. Otherwise he would not have survived so long in the dungeon. I believe that God gave them the gift of faith because of the love with which they accepted the cross and bore it patiently.

(Liviu Brânzaș, Ray from the Catacomb. Diary from Prison, Scara Publishing House, Bucharest, 2001, pp. 213, 216)

[1] The action takes place in Aiud prison, according to the memoirist.

[2] Incomplete statement, in the sense that Nicolae Țoțea was already a teacher at the time of his arrest.