Yesterday, the 6th of June, the Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, Elder Iustin Parvu, the abbot of Petru Voda monastery in Romania has reposed in the Lord.
Fr Iustin (Justin) Parvu was born on the 10th of February 1919 in the village of Petru Voda in Neamt county, Romania, and received the baptism name of Iosif (Joseph), being the fifth child in his family.
He attended the primary school between 1926 and 1931 and two years of secondary school. In 1936 he became a brother in Durau monastery. In 1937 he is sent to attend the seminary of Cernica and then the ones in Valcea and Roman. He was tonsured in 1940 and in 1941 he becomes a hieromonk.
During the WWII, between 1943 and 1944, he is sent as a missionary priest on the Eastern Front.
In 1948 he was sentenced by the communists to 12 years of jail, which he served in the extermination camps of Aiud, Baia Sprie, Gherla and Periprava. In 1960, after the 12 years have passed, he is sentenced to another 4 years. He is released in 1964 and returns to his parents' home. Between 1966 and 1974 he was a hieromonk at Secu monastery and then at Bistrita monastery until 1989. In 1989 he returns to Secu and then, in 1991 he started building the monastery of Petru Voda and became its' abbot. In 2000 he built a nun monastery nearby and also a hospital, an orphanage and a retirement center for elderly women. He built also other monasteries like the ones at Aiud and Poarta Alba (near the communist prison camps).
May the Lord give him rest among His saints!
(translated from Parintele Justin Parvu implineste azi 94 de ani | anomismi)
Photos by Cristina Nichitus Roncea
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