105 years have passed since the birth of Archim. Mina Dobzeu, the one who baptized Nicolae Steinhardt in the communist prisonstranslated

Thursday marked the 105th anniversary of the birth of Archimandrite Mina Dobzeu, one of the confessors of Orthodoxy during the communist regime and the one who baptized Father Nicolae Steinhardt in Jilava prison.

He was born on November 5, 1921, in the town of Grozești, in the former Lăpușna county (now the Republic of Moldova).

At only 13 years old, he chose the monastic life, entering the Hâncu Monastery as a brother. In 1948 he received monasticism at the Brădicești Hermitage, from the Hușilor Diocese, being ordained a hierodeacon in the same year. Seven years later, he was ordained a hieromonk.

The first repressive measures against him came as early as 1948-1949, when he was arrested for 11 months, as a result of protests against the elimination of religious education in schools.

In 1959, while he was in his second year at the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest, he was expelled, expelled from monasticism and sentenced to prison for his opposition to the decree by which the communist authorities aimed to remove many young monks from monasteries.

Baptism of Nicolae Steinhardt Father Mina Dobzeu ended up in communist prisons, being moved through several places of detention:...