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Father Dumitru: The Theologian of the Prisons, acrylic on canvas, 2021
Fr Dumitru “sits in silence, with no wish to speak” (Saint Silouan), recalling the joy of life in prison described by Elder Sofian Boghiu: “I can say that I had days, many days, in prison that were more joyful than outside, because joy comes from within, not from out- side”. He remembers entering his cell and seeing other inmates writing biblical verses from memory on their boot soles–verses which he as a professor of theology had not yet inscribed on the tablet of his heart; he longs for the unceasing prayer God granted him amidst the inhumane tortures and deprivations; he gazes upon God’s suffering people, wishing to console them through the living, grace-filled theology welling up in his heart, through the experience of Christ Whom he met within the four walls of a pris- on cell. — Ioan Grigoriu
Alexander Schmemann: Fr. Paschal Eucharist, acrylic on canvas, 2022
At Pascha during the service before the closed doors of the chapel, everyone noticed how his face would entirely transfigure and be full of light. Alexander Dmitrievich Schmemann (1921–1983) was an influential Orthodox priest, theologian, and author who had most of his career in the United States. Born in Estonia to émigrés from the Russian Revolution, he grew up primarily in France, where there was a large émigré commu- nity in Paris. — Bishop Irinej
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