‘In the past, people used to have wooden crosses and golden hearts. In our days, they have golden crosses and wooden hearts’

Father Fageteanu left Antim Monastery from Bucharest at age 92, deciding to live his last days in a hermitage near Lainici Monastery (in Jiu Valley). He made this decision for the peace of his soul, and the place he is living in now is very suggestive for his decision: a fairy-tales like place, but very hard to reach to; as hard as his life used to be.

Adrian Fageteanu was born in Bucovina, in 1912. At the age of 5, during the migration from Bucovina, he was almost killed by the wheels of a wagon, which passed over his belly. His parents left him in a nearby village to be buried like a Christian. But an old woman, who was mourning him, noticed that he was slightly breathing. His parents turned back and took him to Suceava hospital; the doctor who treated him called that a miracle.

The second time he was almost dead was in the Second World War. He left as a volunteer on the Stalingrad battlefield. He was severely injured during an explosion; he needed immediate surgery, but the battlefield condition didn’t allow that. A German airplane landed nearby, due to engine damage. After fixing the engine, the pilots were forced by the Romanian commanders to take him to a hospital. They took him, thinking of throwing him away after they would take off, because the plane was made for two persons only. But the plane took off and flew with no problem, so the Germans took him to the hospital; he was saved again and the doctors said once more that it was a miracle, of course.

After this moment he went to Putna, dedicating his life to God, his savior.

Then, he joined the orthodox movement ‘the burning stake’; thus, he became the colleague of other priests and men of culture: Vasile Voiculescu (a writer and battlefield doctor, too), Papacioc, Staniloaie, Sandu Tudor, Petroniu, Sofian.

This choice marked the beginning of his oppression; he was oppressed for his beliefs and for his his deep religious life. In 1958 he was condemned to 20 years of forced labour, 10 years of civical degradation and all his properties were taken away from him; and that was because the communists blamed him for rising against the social order. He passed through many prisons (Suceava, Jilava, Aiud). In Suceava prison (where the priests mentioned above were imprisoned, as well), he used to keep a calendar, so that he knew when Easter night was coming. In that night he began to sing ‘Jesus was raised…’, together with the other imprisoned people. The guards were so scared and confused thinking it was a rebellion, so that they used the guns and called for the army help. Fageteanu said that in prison they needed bread, but most of all, they needed God; the word of God gave them the strength to resist to the physical maltreating and helped them to stay alive; the word of God helped them to be more powerful than the guards, who were thinking only to the physical power.

He was released in 1964 and he was hardly accepted in the church. The priest from Lainici Monastery was the only one who accepted him. From this priest he learned about tolerance and forgiveness. Fageteanu hated the communists and had very revengeful thoughts against them; he couldn’t forgive the worse things he suffered…until he met Ceausescu, face to face. Ceausescu came with his parents to Lainici priest, asking him to pray for their lives and sanitation. Fageteanu was ready to refuse Ceausescu, but the older priest invited him in the monastery and gave them the word of God. He treated them as regular people who needed the word of God.

After few years, he moved to Antim Monastery, in Bucharest. Besides his profound spiritual life and severe ordeals, he is also known for building two monasteries –Lacul Morii and Piscul Crasani (with the help of other people). He encouraged and helped the young priests to study a lot, not only theology. He was a man of culture, as well; he graduated Low and Theology and had philosophical discussions with Noica, Staniloaie, Petre Tutea.

In 2003, father Fageteanu left Bucharest for a peaceful life in Lainici Monastery.