106 years ago, on March 14, Natalia Manoilescu Dinu was born in Bucharest. Her father, Mihail Manoilescu, made a notable contribution to international economic thought, but her calling was in theology. She followed the spiritual and academic footsteps of Saint Dumitru Stăniloae.
As a young woman residing in Bucharest, she concurrently undertook studies in theology and philosophy. Regrettably, the establishment of the communist regime interrupted her academic pursuits.
Her father died in the Sighet prison, deemed undesirable by Romania’s new communist authorities, while in the early 1950s she worked as a substitute teacher at the “Iulia Hasdeu” High School in the Romanian capital. Possessing an encyclopaedic mind, she taught Romanian language and literature, geography, history and natural sciences.
Following her dismissal from the school on political grounds, she dedicated herself to family life in conjunction with her husband, Valeriu Dinu.
A testament to her intellectual abilities was the creation, at her husband’s request, of a highly specialised manual for employees of the State Water Committee, from which generations of students later studied.
Theology as a vocation under communism
Although the communist regime prevented her from developing an academic career, Natalia Manoilescu Dinu never abandoned her true vocation: theological thought. One of the books she authored, The Holy Spirit in Orthodox Spirituality, was prefaced by Saint Dumitru Stăniloae.
When Saint Dumitru Stăniloae moved to Bucharest, she became his spiritual disciple, practising the Jesus Prayer and possessing the gift of tears, according to the testimony of her son, Mihai Dinu.
Natalia Manoilescu Dinu’s most important work is Jesus Christ the Saviour in the Light of the Holy Gospels, which Fr. Constantin Coman, the volume’s editor, compared in theological scope to the writings of St Dumitru Stăniloae.
Her book The Holy Spirit in Orthodox Spirituality has been republished by Spandugino Publishing House and is available in bookstores.
Photo: Spandugino publishing house
