The most beautiful Liturgy of Father Gheorghe Calciu in Aiud prison

A conversation with Father Gheorghe Calciu about one of his most uplifting spiritual moments in prison:

Interviewer: “Have you experienced other such moments when you clearly felt God at work?”

Fr. Calciu: “Yes, there was another moment… I served Holy Mass in prison. I had no wine, only bread, and I used water in place of wine, remembering how the Saviour transformed water into wine at the wedding in Cana. I thought that here too, in my suffering, it could be sanctified.”

“I served every Sunday. At first, the guards would swear at me, insult me—’You stupid bastard…’ and so on. That was their tactic. They would come in and interrupt the service, knock on the door, but I didn’t react. I didn’t care about the insults or threats. I continued to serve every Sunday. Eventually, they stopped threatening me. Perhaps the other prisoners told them: ‘Don’t mess with him; he’s a crazy priest.’”

Interviewer: “What did you use instead of the chalice?”

Fr. Calciu: “I had a cup reserved just for this purpose. I always took it with me, hid it, and if they searched me, I would say I was ill and needed water more often. They left it with me, at first unaware of its significance. I also used a handkerchief as a kind of anti-mildew to prevent crumbs from falling to the floor—and they didn’t touch it.”

Interviewer: “What was the structure of the Mass? How did you perform it?”

Fr. Calciu: “I said both the pew and the priest parts. I remembered the essential prayers, though some of the silent ones I had to improvise. I had learned the Mass in preparation for imprisonment, not anticipating that I would actually serve in prison, but I wanted to retain at least the memory of it on Sundays.”

Interviewer: “And the Proscomidia? You had only one piece of bread?”

Fr. Calciu: “Yes, one piece of bread, that’s all we had. I would draw the Hymn of Christ with a chopstick on it… and I recited the hierarchy, leaving no one out. One Saturday night, there was an unexpected search. Normally, they didn’t search on Saturdays, only on other days, but this time they did. They confiscated my bread, the only bread I had saved for Sunday’s Mass. I was deeply saddened, knowing I couldn’t serve without it. For hours, I wrestled with the decision: to ask the guard for bread or to give up. I had no peace either way.”

Interviewer: “Did you ask the guard for the bread?”

Fr. Calciu: “Yes. I knocked on the door. The guard opened it and said hatefully, ‘What do you want?’ I replied, ‘Mr. Boss, please give me a piece of bread, no bigger than a sugar cube, because I want to say Mass.’ He was stunned. Ordinary prisoners were always begging for bread, but no one asked for Mass.”

“He said nothing, closed the door, and left. I focused on willpower to control my anxiety. About an hour later, the window opened, and the guard handed me a full slice of bread, then closed it again. I said to myself, ‘My angel has watched over me again, at Easter and now!’ With that bread, I celebrated the most beautiful Mass I have ever known, the most spiritually uplifting. Afterwards, the guard said to me, ‘Father—don’t tell anyone I gave you this bread, or I’ll be in trouble!’ He had become part of the miracle. After that, he never insulted me again.”

Interviewer: “So he essentially became the instrument of God’s gift?”

Fr. Calciu: “Yes, God moved him. That gesture transformed him. He could have been punished for helping a prisoner, yet he did it. And from that day on, he was kind, never hostile. I consider this one of the most extraordinary moments of my prison experience.”

Interviewer: “Father Iustin Pârvu also said that the Masses he celebrated in prison were the most deeply lived of his life.”

Fr. Calciu: “Yes. Canonically, Mass requires assistance, but I served alone. Even Father Dimitrie Bejan said that my Mass in prison might not have been valid because I had no congregation. Still, I publicly confessed my ministry after my release. The hierarchy never accused me of heresy or profanation, despite my rebellious reputation. The spiritual transformations I witnessed, the miracles that occurred, convince me that the Mass was entirely valid. I never doubted it, and I experienced profound peace after Holy Communion.”

(Fr. Gheorghe Calciu Dumitreasa – Life of Father Gheorghe Calciu according to his own testimony and that of others, pp. 103-106)