Priest Mark radiated around him only love and grace

I was taken to a ward[1] where there were 10 other patients. Among the patients I met Father Marcu from Vrancea, Father Bumbac from Constanta, Doctor Cepii, also from Constanța, of Macedonian origin, Fani Vlădoianu, poet, also from Constanța.

The meeting with Father Marcu was a great joy for both of us; we had met before in Galați, where we were very close.

He was a very special priest, like very few I have met in prisons. Father Marcu radiated love and spiritual grace around him. He was a great priest and of high spiritual life. He was a legionary. (…)

The presence of Father Marcu in that room in the hospital urged me not to hold back. They were really shocked by what I told them[2], they couldn’t believe that this could happen in this century. (…)

I could even see Father Mark, it seemed as if he was also horrified, he couldn’t believe and imagine that such a thing was possible. (…)

In any case, the atmosphere in the hospital room, the people and the climate made me forget my illness and the whole nightmare in Gherla. I began to receive spiritual nourishment from Father Marcu and Father Bumbac, who celebrated the Holy Liturgy every Sunday and on feast days.

I learned from Father Marcu the “Akathist of the Mother of God” and many prayers; all this together gave me a special state of mind.

And so, in this atmosphere of physical and moral healing, I spent six weeks in the hospital of Aiud (…).

After I had eaten my morning meal, the warden came and told me to get ready, to pack my bag, that I was leaving the hospital. (…) I said goodbye to the people in the room and left. As we embraced, I saw tears in his eyes and he whispered to me: “Courage, Michael, you have overcome a lot, God protect you, I will always pray for you”. (…)

Father Marcu’s words of encouragement as we said goodbye were food for my soul all the way.

(Mihai Timaru, Memories of Gherla, Editura de Vest, 1993, pp. 121-125)

1. The action takes place in Aiud prison, after the memoirist has been transferred from Gherla.

2. This is an account of the re-education action carried out in Gherla prison, which was a novelty for the prisoners of Aiud.