ANUARUL ACADEMIC 2003-2004 - Facultatea de Teologie "Andrei ...

Having found Lord Christ, Valeriu Gafencu is so happy that he finds itdifficult to refrain himself from expressing his immense joy: “I am a happy man, sohappy that I would like to shout so that everyone may hear my shout, so that myhappiness may reach the Sky” 105 . .Many times in his letters sent from prison, Valeriu Gafencu urges his sistersand his mother to look for Christ as He is the one filling our lives with meaningfulcontent: “Happiness is the meaning of our entire life…Life is meaningless withoutChrist!...Therefore, let us look through our way of living to gain the Saviour in ourhearts” 106 . From his letters, such kind of life consists in: “keeping the soul pure,having knowledge of the evangelic word, continuous prayer, fasting, charity, lovefor the whole world, endurance of suffering, humility, sincerity towards God,towards the neighbour, and towards ourselves, the reading of holy books” 107 .According to Valeriu Gafencu, happiness is at hand for everyone-LordChrist. Valeriu Gafencu points to an inner road of discovering the hidden Lord inour souls, as the way of reaching happiness. It is a way of knowing the Lord Christ.Faith in His word, fulfilling the Commandments, following His virtues, a puresoul; this is a happy life. Although generated by subjective experiences, ValeriuGafencu thinks his advice has universal value, as everyone needs Lord ChristSo far we have dealt with a paradox. Although living in extremely harshconditions, many of the Christian inmates experience joy. We have handled severaltestimonies and we found several reasons for this joy. Very often, this joy bringsabout theological reflection. Furthermore, this joy needs to be expressed ingestures, acts. In the next subchapter, we are going to see how spiritual life waspossible in prison. Filled with love for God, many of the Christian prisoners turnedthe inhumane prisons into real cathedrals where prayers, mysteries and Liturgieswere performed, giving spiritual strength and supporting physical survival.5. Instead of conclusionsIt can be stated that the relevance of the sufferings of the christians in thecommunist prisons, for the theology, the mission and the unity of the Church is105 Ibidem, p. 19.106 Ibidem, p. 14.107 Ibidem, p. 7.174