Father Cleopa Ilie (; 10 April 1912 – 2 December 1998) was an

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

of the Sihăstria

Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

. He was a well-known spiritual representative of the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates ...

Biography

Cleopa Ilie (

lay name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then a ...

: Constantin) was born in

Sulița Sulița is a commune in Botoșani County, Western Moldavia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, H ...

, Botoșani to a family of peasants. He was the fifth of ten children born to Alexandru Ilie. He attended the primary school in his village. Afterwards he was an apprentice for three years to the monk Paisie Olaru, who lived in seclusion at the Cozancea hermitage. Together with his elder brother, Vasile, Ilie joined the community at Sihastria hermitage in December 1929. In 1935, he joined the army in the town of Botoșani, but returned a year later to the hermitage, where he was anointed a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

on 2 August 1937, taking the name "Cleopa" (i.e. "guide") at his

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

. In June 1942, he was appointed to

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

deputy because of abbot Ioanichie Moroi's poor health. On 27 December 1944, he was ordained a

hierodeacon A hierodeacon (Greek: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a monk who has been ordained a deacon (or deacon who has been tonsured monk). T ...

(deacon-monk) and on 23 January 1945 a

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church an ...

(priest-monk) by the archbishop Galaction Cordun, abbot of the Neamţ Monastery at the time. Afterwards he was officially appointed hegumen of the Sihastria Hermitage. In 1947, the hermitage became a monastery and vice-

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") wh ...

Cleopa Ilie became archimandrite on approval of Patriarch Nicodim. Because the Communist

secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

was looking for him in 1948, he disappeared into the woods surrounding the monastery, staying there for six months. On 30 August 1949, he was appointed abbot of the Slatina Monastery in

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

county, where he joined 30 other monks from the Sihastria Monastery community as a result of Patriarch Justinian's decision. There he founded a community of monks with over 80 people. Between 1952 and 1954 he was being chased again by the

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

and, together with hieromonk Arsenie Papacioc, escaped to the Stanisoara Mountains. He was brought back to the monastery after two years upon Patriarch Justinian's order. In 1956 he returned to Sihastria monastery, where he had been anointed, and in the spring of 1959 he retired for the third time to the Neamț Mountains, spending the next five years there. He returned to Sihastria in the fall of 1964, as

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Daniel, was one of his disciples along with other current bishops. He would always portray himself as a worthless person and consistently diminished his deeds and suffering during his life. He claimed that while in seclusion in the mountains he lived as a king even though the conditions were extremely severe, food was scarce and shelter was improvised. His views on the importance of ecology and the responsibility of man to love and uphold the natural world as the creation of God went a long way ensuring the involvement of the Romanian Church in embracing ecologist views. He was often sought after for advice by various important persons such as politicians and businessmen which he received together with common folk. He preached meekness and thorough understanding of the Bible and Holy tradition. It is through his meekness despite his vast power of influencing the church, as well as his vast knowledge, that made from him an emblem of the church revival after the 1989 Revolution.

Published work

*''Despre credinţa ortodoxă'' ("About Orthodox Faith", Bucuresti, 1981, 280 pages, republished in 1985, then in Galaţi under the title: ''Călăuza în credinţa ortodoxă'', "Guide to the Orthodox Faith", 1991, 276 pages); *''Predici la praznice împărăteşti şi sfinti de peste an'' ("Sermons on Religious Feasts and Saints Over the Year", Ed. Episcopiei Romanului, 1986, 440 pages); *''Predici la Duminicile de peste an'' (Sermons on Sundays Over the Year, Ed. Episcopiei Romanului, 1990, 560 pages); *''Valoarea sufletului'' (Value of the Soul, Galaţi, 1991, 176 pages, republished in Bacău, 1994, 238 pages); *''Urcuş spre înviere (predici duhovniceşti)'' ("Ascent Towards Resurrection (Spiritual Sermons)", Mănăstirea Neamţ, 1992, 416 pages); *''Despre vise şi vedenii'' ("About Dreams and Visions", București, 1993, 270 pages); *Numerous articles in different magazines and newspapers, sermons in manuscript

Studies

* Balan, I., Archim. Elder Cleopa of Sihastria: In the Tradition of Saint Paisius Velichkovsky. Lake George (CO), 2001. * Stebbing, N. Bearers of the Spirit: Spiritual Fatherhood in Romanian Orthodoxy. Collegeville, MN, 2003 (Cistercian Studies Series).

External links

*
Short biography (in Romanian)

Detailed biographical information in English

Photos & some biographical information in English
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilie, Cleopa 1912 births 1998 deaths People from Botoșani County Romanian Orthodox monks Romanian abbots