IMPORTANȚA RUGĂCIUNII ÎN TEMNIȚELE COMUNISTE PRIN PRISMA MEMORIALISTICII DE DETENȚIE
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PRAYER IN COMMUNIST PRISONS THROUGH THE LENS OF PRISON MEMOIRS

Summary/Abstract: Abstract: Faith and prayer played a defining role in the resistance of former political prisoners incarcerated in the communist prisons of Romania. Through this work, I aim to analyze their significance and present testimonies of those who experienced imprisonment in the Romanian concentration camps. Memory and remembrance are important themes in the memorial literature of the Romanian Gulag. Testimonies from those who endured the carceral experience imposed by the communist regime bring forth journals and memoirs that facilitate our imaginary journey to understand what prisoners went through in the communist dungeons. The purpose of this article is to highlight that prayer and faith played an extremely important role during the harsh years of detention experienced by confessors, martyrs and great spiritual leaders. It illustrates testimonies of inmates confessing how they practiced prayer while imprisoned and the outcome of their prayers. Being imprisoned provided inmates with a different perspective, a new dimension that positively changed their personality. Prayer had a significant role for those deprived of their liberty helping them gain an unprecedented inner freedom, defy the absurd norms of labor, cope with the difficulties of living conditions, and provide the opportunity for escape and spiritual strengthening, while also establishing genuine interpersonal relationships based on important moral values in order to resist the extreme conditions imposed by the Romanian communist regime.

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