114 years since the birth of Father Nicolae Steinhardt: Thrown in prison by the communist regime, he discovered Christtranslated

It is 114 years since the birth of Father Nicolae Steinhardt, one of the most famous confessors of the Orthodox faith during the communist regime, writer, essayist and monk of the Rohia Monastery.

Nicolae Steinhardt was born on July 29, 1912, in Bucharest, in a family of Jewish origin. He followed legal and literary studies, asserting himself as an intellectual and publicist since his youth.

Baptism in prison In 1960, he was convicted in the process known as the "Noica-Pillat batch", being imprisoned in Jilava and other communist penitentiaries. On March 15, 1960, in the Jilava prison, he received the Holy Baptism in the Orthodox faith from the hieromonk Mina Dobzeu.

The experience of detention would become the basis of one of the most important memorial works in Romanian literature, "Jurnalul fericirii", in which he describes the encounter between suffering and the inner freedom acquired through Christ.

Pruning in monasticism After his release, he continued his intellectual activity, and in 1980 he entered the community of the Rohia Monastery in Maramureș, where he was ordained a monk. He became one of the most appreciated clergymen and guides...