The great Romanian elder Fr. Sofian Boghiu was honoured on Monday, September 14, in his native village on the 18th anniversary of his repose.
Fr. Sofian was born on October 7, 1912, in Cuconeștii Vechi, Bălți County in what is today the northern part of the Republic of Moldova. On Monday, a memorial house was opened there in his honour.
On the occasion of the inauguration, a bell was consecrated and two candles were lit in memory of Fr. Sofian and his brother, Hierodeacon Luca. The event was attended by clergy, Orthodox faithful, and local officials who came to keep the memory of Fr. Sofian alive.
“This summer, with the help of the Lord and the people of good faith, the interior of the building was finished, and this autumn the exterior works are expected to be finished.”
“The memorial house will present aspects from the childhood, studies, monasticism, detentions, ministry, pastoral-missionary and iconographic activity, as well as his ministry in the dignity of archimandrite at the holy Antim Monastery,” explained Protopresbyter Mihail Bortă from the Church of St. Spyridon at the emergency hospital in Chișinău.
Items at the memorial house include copies of Fr. Sofian’s manuscripts, his books, a series of signed icons, and photos from his meetings with ecclesiastical and cultural personalities, Fr. Mihail said, “In order to present the missionary and cultural work” of Fr. Sofian.
Father Sofian Boghiu
Fr. Sofian was born on October 7, 1912 in Cuconeștii Vechi. He became a brother of Rughi Monastery in Soroca County in 1926. He studied at the school for singers at Dobrușa Monastery, at the monastic seminary in Cernica Monastery (1932-1940), at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest (1940-1945), and at the Department of Theology in Bucharest (1942-1946).
He was tonsured as a monk with the name Sofian at Dobrușa Monastery in 1937. He was ordained as a hierodeacon in 1939 and as a hieromonk in 1945 for the Antim Monastery in Bucharest. He served as abbot of the monastery from 1950 to 1955 and again in the last years of his life.
He was arrested in 1958 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, though he was released in 1964. He spent the rest of his life at Antim Monastery, where he reposed on September 14, 2002. He was buried at Căldărușani Monastery in Gruiu in Ilfov County.
Photography courtesy of ortodox.md / Ioan Beschieru
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