Panegyric of Brother Traian Dorz

In 2009, we commemorate with deep gratitude and devotion the twentieth anniversary of our beloved brother Traian Dorz, psalmist of the Lord’s Host, entering into God’s eternal presence.

We do this in good will, for it is only fitting that we continually honour Brother Traian Dorz, through whom many of us became more faithful. His poems have comforted us in our suffering, his immortal songs have encouraged us in our trials, and his words have offered us valuable lessons. His life, rich in religious devotion and sincere humility, remains a lasting example.

Some of us knew him personally. I too had the opportunity to sit beside him in prison, and I am grateful for that encounter. Others did not have this privilege but learned of him through his songs, whether via audio and video recordings, CDs, or the Internet.

There is scarcely an Orthodox church in Romania today that does not include a song written by him. Whether at the priceasna, during the distribution of the anaphora, at vespers, vigils, or other services, the faithful, together with the pious priests, sing his songs—songs composed with tears of blood, some memorised during his seventeen years of imprisonment. These songs proclaim Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour. Brother Traian suffered for them, and today we sing them joyfully, even though many who sing them may not know the great poet behind them, the hardships under which he memorised them, and the sacrifices necessary to bring them into existence, filled with divine grace through prayer, printed and disseminated through his own labor.

Even more remarkable is that he remained a steadfast Orthodox believer, despite the Orthodox officialdom’s disapproval during the era of atheism. He was repeatedly offered positions in other sects that promised material benefits, yet he refused, remaining upright and respecting the mysteries and ordinances of the Orthodox Church.

Without formal high school or university theological education, he nonetheless left us an invaluable religious and cultural treasure, for which all who use it today—and in the future—will remain grateful.

If anyone believes they could have written better or more correctly, they are free to try—bearing in mind his own words:

“All that I have written to you here with tears is pure and hard truth / Confessed on my conscience in the name of God. / Don’t deny me a single fragment of what I say and write now, / For what you don’t understand today, you will understand later.”

I first met him in 1954 at Ghencea prison, where he had been elected head of the barracks. He carefully cut two kilos of bread into eight pieces, always taking the smallest portion himself.

Later, at the work colony in Popești-Leordeni, after the day’s labour, we would pray and converse with other prisoners. Because of this devotion, about 80% of us were not released with the others. He went to Dropia, and I to Viișoara, Ialomița County, corresponding by letter during an extended imprisonment of one to three years, during which he wrote the Psalter.

I also met him in Sibiu, in the courtyard of the Theological Institute, and at the tomb of Father Iosif Trifa—both occasions bringing joy to us. In 1968, at the wedding of Father Vasile Mihoc and Sister Octavia, he spoke from the Apostles, and I from the Gospel, using insights from his sermons.

One evening, at Brother Moise Velescu’s home, I heard him reciting verses. He did not praise me as I expected. The last time I saw him was at my home, during a period when television could almost be considered an idol. Today, with religious programs broadcast on television, I believe he would not have reproached me—confirming the wisdom of St. Basil the Great, that the bee collects its honey even from weeds, not only from flowers.

I have visited Brother Traian’s tomb twice. Though I cannot go anymore, I remember him daily in my prayers, asking the Lord to grant him rest and eternal reward.

Praised be the Lord forever and ever. Amen.

(Testimony of Father Ioan Hornea – In memoriam Traian Dorz. Testimonies 20 years after his passing into eternity, edited by Corneliu Clop, Oastea Domnului Publishing House, Sibiu, 2009, pp. 126–129)