Living words

Father Arsenie Boca (1910-1989) was a great monastic and charismatic
orthodox personality of Romania. After he graduated the "Avram Iancu"
High School in Brad (Hunedoara), he attended the Academy of Theology in
Sibiu and the Belle Arte Institute in Bucharest. At the same time, he
attended medical courses at the University of Medicine in Bucharest.
After four months spent in Mount Athos in Greece, he entered the
monastic life at Brâncoveanu Monastery in Sâmbâta de Sus (Brașov),
where he served as a priest and abbot until November 1948. Finally he
was transferred by Metropolitan of Transylvania, Nicolae Bălan, to
Prislop Monastery in the Country of Hațeg (Hunedoara). In May 1959, he
was expelled from the monastery by the communist regime. Although
regulations were strict, Justinian, the Patriarch of Romania, gave him
the blessing to work in the Studio of the Romanian Patriarchate in
Bucharest. Following his retirement in 1967, he painted for fifteen
years the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Drăgănescu (Giurgiu).

Due to his Christian faith, he was permanently put under surveillance,
being imprisoned by the communist regime. Endowed by God with
exceptional spiritual gifts, he had a high influence amid the Romanian
nation. His spirits is still present today, enjoying a genuine
veneration. He died in Sinaia on November 28, 1989, and was buried at
Prislop Monastery. His tomb became one of the most well-known places of
pilgrimage in Romania.