Bucharest, December 3, 2024
The relics of the holy Hieromartyr Constantin Sârbu were uncovered yesterday during a special service held at the Church of the Holy Wisdom in Bucharest.
St. Constantin is among the 16 martyrs, confessors, and ascetics of the 20th century canonized by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in July.
His Grace Bishop Timotei of Prahova, vicar bishop of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, participated in the uncovering of the remains, reports the Basilica News Agency.
The hierarch praised the example of St. Constantin Sârbu: “His virtues are generally known. First, a special love, a holy love for the words of the Gospel, a matching zeal, and a patience worthy of the Paterikon, because a priest who has the patience to hear confessions his entire life, to stand before the faithful, shows, without the need for many words, his love for the Gospel.”
St. Constantin was imprisoned for many years under the communist regime, though he always maintained a “fraternal attitude towards his fellow prisoners,” the bishop explained.
“One of the inmates, also a priest, who later reached America, said that once staying at Fr. Sârbu’s house after they were released from prison, he was impressed by his naturalness. And he testified that he didn’t ask him to pray all day, nor did he urge him to strict fasting, but he simply felt joy in his presence. It was probably also the sharing of the same experiences, sufferings, and humiliations they both had gone through,” His Grace said.
His Grace recalled that St. Constantin was frequently pressured by the communist regime to reveal secrets heard in confession, but he resisted martyrically.
The uncovering of St. Constantin’s remains is part of the Church ordinances regarding the preparation of holy relics, taking into account previous experiences related to the canonization of saints from the Bucharest Archdiocese. This exhumation aimed to properly prepare the relics to be later placed in the silver reliquary currently being manufactured at the Romanian Patriarchate’s workshops, in preparation for the liturgical proclamation of canonization at the beginning of 2025.
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Photo: doxologia.ro Hieromartyr Constantin Sârbu was born on January 10, 1905, in Cavadinești, Galați County, into a very poor peasant family. His mother passed away when he was one year old while trying to give birth to her second child. His father, following an accident, was unable to care for himself or his child. Then, young Constantin was taken and raised by his grandmother, Ioana.
In 1919, at age 15, St. Constantin was admitted to the Theological Seminary in Galați, where he entered as a scholarship student, ranking third among 500 candidates. He was so thirsty for knowledge that at the seminary he completed two years in one, despite working nights at a lumber factory. In 1925, he became a student in Bucharest at the Faculty of Theology and the Academy of Music. Still poor, he slept on the floor for two years, first in an attic in Amzei Square, and then in the North Railway Station’s waiting room.
He was ordained a priest for the episcopal cathedral in Huși, at the Holy Dormition-Adam Monastery, by Bishop Nifon Criveanu of Huși, then in the same year was appointed director and professor of the Cantors’ School, later being designated as archpriest of Fălciu. St. Constantin stayed in Huși until November 1, 1938, when he transferred to Bucharest, to the newly established Călărași Park parish, because his wife had received a position as a German and French language teacher at the Nicolae Bălcescu High School.
On January 12, 1954, he was arrested, passing through the prisons of Jilava (1954-1955), Gherla (1956-1962), and Dej (1955), and the labor camps at Poarta Albă (1955-1956) and Salcia (1959). Christ’s martyr endured many tortures in prison. He was burned with hot iron on his soles, had his beard torn out, was beaten and humiliated to deny Christ. However, Blessed Constantin responded with spiritual courage: “You can torture me as much as you want, but I will not deny Christ.”
Released on January 10, 1962, he received two years of mandatory residence in Bărăgan, in Viișoara village. He returned to Bucharest in 1964, and Patriarch Justinian entrusted him with the Church of the Holy Wisdom. Alone, sick, hungry, in rags, with broken shoes, but full of confidence, St. Constantin arrived on June 1, 1965, to a church that was in ruins. The saint restored the church and gathered around him a Eucharistic community deeply involved in philanthropic activities.
St. Constantin Sârbu passed to eternal life on October 23, 1975, at the age of 70.
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