"In prison we had the most spiritual life. We reached levels that we are not able to reach in this world. Isolated, anchored in Jesus Christ, we had joys and illuminations that this world cannot offer us."
— Fr. George Calciu
Father George Calciu (1925-2006) was one of the great confessors of Christianity in the twentieth century. Having survived the diabolic prison experiments of Communist Romania, Fr. George went on to become an apostle to spiritual seekers in Romania and, eventually, throughout the world. He was able to speak authoritatively of God's love and forgiveness because of his own experience of God's mercy. As a priest in America, Fr. George maintained a strict ascetic life of fasting and prayer, while at the same time pastoring his flock as a joyful and loving father.
Here we present a collection of his interviews, homilies, and talks. In them he shares his thoughts on his imprisonment, how to pray, his own experience of Gods Uncreated Light, and the Orthodox Christian's battle against temptations in America. Included in this volume are the "Seven Homilies to the Youth" that he gave in Bucharest in 1978. These homilies, in which he fearlessly called Romanian youth to turn from atheism and materialism to Christ, led to his second imprisonment by the Communist regime. Here, as in his other writings and talks, the common thread of God's mercy and forgiveness is woven into the fabric of man's need for repentance and union with his Creator.
"As Fr. George blessed so many during his lifetime, his words in this book will bless thousands more, leading, instructing, and confirming them in the faith of Christ, for he loved Christ above all."
— Frederica Mathewes-Green
CONTENTS
Introduction by Frederica Mathewes-Green
Part one: The Life and Repose of Fr. George
A Brief Autobiography of Fr. George
The Last Years and Repose of Fr. George by Ryassaphore-monk Adrian
Part Two: An Interview with Fr. George
Introduction by Nun Nina
An Interview with Fr. George
Part Three: Homilies to the Youth
Introduction by Hieromonk Seraphim Rose
First Homily: The Call
Second Homily: Let us Build Churches
Third Homily: Heaven and Earth
Fourth Homily: Faith and Friendship
Fifth Homily: The Priesthood and Human Suffering
Sixth Homily: About Death and Resurrection
Seventh Homily: Forgiveness
An Additional Homily to the Youth: A Homily to Theologians
A New Word to Youth: Christ Has Risen within Your Heart
Part Four: Divine Light in the Devil's Lair
Lecture One: From Holy Romania to the Devil's Lair
Lecture Two: Return to the Devil's Lair
Lecture Three: Uncreated Light
Part Five: Other Talks, Homilies, and Interviews
The Inner Church
A Word on Pious Prayer
A Word on Anger
A Word on the "Spirit of the Times"
Walking on the Sea of Life
How to Battle against the Demons
On the Importance of Holy Tradition
The Centurion's Faith and the Healing of the Heart
Thomas Sunday
The Healing of the Paralytic and the Loneliness of Contemporary Man
On the Meaning of Suffering
The Great Supper
On the Communion of the Soul with God
Prayer Is a Struggle
The Church and the Spirit of the World
A Word on the Feast of the Holy Great-martyr George
An Interview on the Fall of Communism and the Future of Romania
An Interview on Ecumenism
Appendices
Appendix One: Fr. George's Letter to the CIEL
Appendix Two: Fr. George's Preface to Pitesti by Dumitru Bacu
Appendix Three: A Redeemer of the Time: Razvan Codrescus Introduction to the Romanian Edition of Fr. George's Seven Homilies to the Youth
Index
