Prislop Monastery is one of the most famous monasteries in Romania, being an important place of Orthodox pilgrimage and prayer. This is also due to Father Arsenie Boca, also known as the Saint of Transylvania, due to the miracles he managed to accomplish, both during his life and after his death.
The settlement of Prislop is located in the immediate vicinity of Silvașu de Sus, about 30 kilometers away from Hunedoara and about ten kilometers from Hațeg.
Access to the place of worship is easy as the road to the destination is managed and paved. The church here dates from the 16th century and has been declared a historic monument.
Despite its modest size, specialists consider it not only one of the most important Orthodox churches in Transylvania, but also in the whole country. Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims arrive here, attracted by the peace and beauty of this place.
Pilgrims from all corners of the country
Every day, pilgrims from all corners of the country come to the tomb of Father Arsenie Boca to pray at the head of the one called Saint of Transylvania. Prislop Monastery was built in the second half of the 14th century by Saint Nicodemus.
The place designated for the construction of this monastery was chosen far from the daily hustle and bustle, the place of worship being surrounded by towering forests, which blend perfectly with the peace and spiritual charge, being a perfect place for silence and reflection.
Prislop Monastery is also called "Silvaș" after the village of Silvașu de Sus first mentioned in documents from 1360. It seems that the lands where the monastery is located belonged to the family of the nobles of Ciula, but there are no exact written data regarding the possible founder of the place of worship.
Approximately 200 meters from the current place of worship there is a place called "La Mănăstirea Bătrână", which practically proves the existence of an old wooden monastery in the area.
Near the tomb of Father Arsenie Boca can be visited the cell dug in a rock, in the 16th century. It was built by the pious Saint John of Prislop, and its cave (an extremely small one for someone to actually live), where he led a life as a hermit, after retiring from the life of the monastery, is today called "Casa Saint”, being also a place of pilgrimage for the believers who arrive here.
Historical data about the Prislop Monastery
In the 16th century, the monastery fell into ruin, but was rebuilt in 1564 by Miss Zamfira, daughter of Moise Voievod, from Wallachia. The young woman arrived here after her father was killed in a fight. Specialists say, however, that Zamfira must have rebuilt the monastery, because she, as a woman, did not have the right, at that time, to found a monastery for men.
The tombstone of Zamfira has survived to the present day. A century later, a school for priests was founded in Prislop, and now the presence of the well-known Saint John of Prislop is reported.
From the 18th century, the monastery became Greek-Catholic, and in 1948 it returned to Orthodox. The abbot of the monastery becomes Father Arsenie Boca, considered "formerly a seer with the spirit" and a miracle worker, especially after more and more people who either talked to the father or prayed to him, confessed that their prayers and desires had been met.
The connection of Father Arsenie Boca with the Prislop Monastery
On November 25, 1948, Nicolae Bălan, then Metropolitan of Transylvania, brought here the hieromonk Arsenie Boca who was at the Sâmbăta de Sus Monastery. Thus, from 1948 the abbot of the monastery was Arsenie Boca, and after the place was transformed into a nunnery (in the mid-1950s), he remained as a priest, until 1959, when the communists scattered the community and Father Arsenie Boca established forced residence in Bucharest.
Arsenie Boca then stayed in the monastery until 1989, when he passed to the eternal ones. He personally sculpted the iconostasis and undertook several renovations of the church and several buildings. These are also some reasons why, at present, Arsenie Boca is considered the third founder of the monastery, and his body is buried in the cemetery of Prislop Monastery.
Arrested by the communists, loved by the faithful
Arsenie Boca was born on September 29, 1910, in Vaţa de Sus, in Hunedoara County. He graduated from the "Avram Iancu" High School in Brad, then he attended the Theological Academy in Sibiu and the Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest, attending medical classes in parallel.
After four months spent at Mount Athos, in Greece, he entered monasticism at the Brâncoveanu monastery in Sâmbăta de Sus, in Braşov county. There he was a priest and abbot until November 1948, when he was transferred by Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan of Transylvania to the Prislop Monastery in Ţara Haţegului, until May 1959.
He was removed from the monastery world by the communist power and worked at the Romanian Patriarchate Workshops in Bucharest, under the protection of Patriarch Justinian of Romania. After retirement, in 1967, he painted for 15 years at the Orthodox Church "Saint Nicholas" in Draganescu (Giurgiu County). He was persecuted and imprisoned by the communists several times. He died in Sinaia on November 28, 1989, but was buried at Prislop Monastery.
More info on www.crestinortodox.ro
Rate us and Write a Review
Your request has been submitted successfully.
Own or work here?
