Tzanetos Kavaliotis
YouTube
St. Cleopa of Sihăstria: The Monk Who Hid from the Securitate and Outlasted It
16:17
What the video says
Cleopa of Sihăstria was made abbot in 1942 at age 30, a shepherd with no formal education who had spent 15 years on the mountain with the monastery's sheep. When the Securitate hunted him after the communist takeover, he hid in the forests three times, for six months, two years, and five years, and he later called those hidden years the most blessed of his life because they gave him uninterrupted prayer.
In 1964 he returned to Sihăstria and gave up the hesychia he had been forced into, spending his last 34 years receiving visitors daily and hearing confessions eight hours a day. He prayed 14 to 15 hours daily for the last 20 years of his life, following a fixed rule whether or not he felt anything. In a recorded 1994 talk he taught the descent of the mind into the heart, warning that the soul must not linger at the station of imagination, and his counsel on humility was three things: keep your sins before your eyes, weep over them, and condemn no one.
He died on December 2, 1998, was glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Synod in July 2024, and his feast falls on December 2.
Key moments
- In 1942 the monks of Sihăstria were told their new abbot would be a 30-year-old shepherd with no seminary training, who had spent 15 years with the monastery's sheep, carried patristic texts to the pasture, and came down for Saturday vigils. The old abbot Ioanichie Moroi named him, and neither the community nor Cleopa wanted it.
- After the communist takeover, the Securitate turned to the monasteries; Sihăstria had been raised to a monastery in 1947 and Cleopa made archimandrite, so a file was opened. He hid in the woods for six months, organizing no resistance and seeking no martyrdom.
- In August 1949 the patriarch sent him as abbot to Slatina Monastery with 30 monks from Sihăstria, and he built the community to more than 80 men. From 1952 to 1954 he hid in the Stanisoara Mountains with Father Arsenios Papacioc, and in 1959 he went into the Neamt Mountains a third time for five years.
- He called the hiding years the most blessed of his life: the forest had no administration, no visitors, no abbacy, only prayer and hunger. The Securitate aimed at his career and position, none of which were where he was actually living.
- In 1964 he came down from the mountains and returned to Sihăstria for his remaining 34 years, receiving visitors daily, talking until his voice gave out, and answering the same ordinary questions thousands of times. The return was his true sacrifice.
- For the last 20 years of his life he prayed 14 to 15 hours a day, from 4:00 in the morning, and heard confessions eight hours a day. His cell attendant listed the akathists, the psalter, and multiple canons he completed before noon. A disciple recorded that he wept at the liturgy and hid himself so others would not see.
- In July 1994 he spoke to pilgrims about the prayer of the heart, warning that on the descent of the mind into the heart there are two stations where a soul can be stopped. Of imagination he said not to linger even for a moment: do not visualize, do not construct an image of Christ, do not mistake the warmth of a generated image for grace. He cited Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite: 'The mind is a priest, the heart is the altar.'
- Asked for a simpler method of humility than the fathers' intricate writings, he gave three things: keep the weight of your own sins before your eyes, weep over them, and condemn no one ever. He preached repentance without a ceiling, using King Manasseh as proof that God's mercy reaches even the worst sinner. He died around 20 past 2 on December 2, 1998, at 86; more than 10,000 came to the funeral, and in July 2024 the Romanian Orthodox Synod approved his glorification, with his feast on December 2.
Cleopa Ilie entered Sihăstria Monastery after 15 years as a shepherd with the monastery's sheep, carrying patristic texts to the pasture. In 1942, at age 30 and with no seminary training, he was named abbot by the elder Ioanichie Moroi, a choice neither he nor the community wanted. After the communist takeover of Romania, the Securitate opened a file on him and turned to the monasteries.
He hid in the forests three times across sixteen years: six months, then two years in the Stânișoara Mountains with Father Arsenios Papacioc, then five years in the Neamț Mountains from 1959. Between hidings, in 1949, the patriarch sent him to lead Slatina Monastery with 30 monks, which grew past 80. He called the hidden years the most blessed of his life, since the forest offered no administration and no visitors, only prayer and hunger.
In 1964 he came down and returned to Sihăstria for his last 34 years, receiving visitors daily, hearing confessions eight hours a day, and answering the same ordinary questions thousands of times. For his final 20 years he prayed 14 to 15 hours daily, beginning at 4:00 in the morning, with akathists, the psalter, and multiple canons completed before noon.
In a recorded 1994 talk he taught the descent of the mind into the heart, warning that the soul must not linger at the station of imagination: do not visualize, do not construct an image of Christ, do not mistake the warmth of a generated image for grace. He cited Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite: 'The mind is a priest, the heart is the altar.' Asked for a simpler method of humility, he gave three things: keep your sins before your eyes, weep over them, and condemn no one.
He used King Manasseh as proof that God's mercy reaches the worst sinner. He died on December 2, 1998, at 86; more than 10,000 attended the funeral, and in July 2024 the Romanian Orthodox Synod approved his glorification.
Main points
- Made abbot of Sihăstria in 1942 at age 30, a shepherd with no formal education whom neither the community nor he himself wanted in the role.
- Hid from the Securitate three times across sixteen years, including five years in the Neamț Mountains, and called those years the most blessed of his life.
- After 1964 he spent 34 years at Sihăstria receiving visitors daily and hearing confessions eight hours a day, praying 14 to 15 hours daily in his last 20 years.
- In a 1994 talk he taught the descent of the mind into the heart and warned against lingering in imagination: do not visualize Christ or mistake a generated image's warmth for grace.
- His counsel on humility was three things: keep your sins before your eyes, weep over them, and condemn no one; he was glorified in July 2024, with his feast on December 2.