Fr. Vartolomeu Dolhan (en)

Father Vartolomeu Dolhan – He had such a warm look in his eyes that he captivated you

At the Hermitage of Boureni, the foundation of the Sturzists, I had the opportunity, from the first day of my arrival, to meet other people of the soul who marked me for life. I arrived here in the afternoon of Sunday 16 October 1938. For the first time I saw a brother of my own age, with a fez on his head, walking around the church according to the monastic custom. After vespers I was invited to dinner in the monastery cloister. Before giving the blessing for the meal to be served, Father Hieromonk Vartolomew tested my voice and asked […]

Hieromonk Vartolomeu Dolhan under the communist persecution

He had just finished painting the altar of the church in his native village of Pârcovacii, near Hârlău, where he had been baptised, on the eve of St. Nicholas’ Day 1958, when Father Vartolomeu Dolhan of the Metropolitanate of Iași was visited by the Security Service. Father Vartolomeu was arrested and his cell searched, accused of working against the regime. But who was Father Vartolomeu and what had he done? He was born on 4 August 1912 into a large farmer’s family near Hârlău. He went to primary school in his native village, then to the Vorona monastery. From there […]