Monastery of Prislop (Romania, 2022)
In November 2023, Ioan Cozma travelled to Romania to conduct fieldwork research at the monastery of Prislop. The monastery is located on the territory of the village Silvașu de Sus, in the historical region of Hațeg (Țara Hațegului), at 10 km from Hațeg city and 30 km from Hunedoara city, in Transylvania, Romania. Its history goes back to the beginning of the 15th century (ca. 1399-1405); its foundation is attributed to the well-known Greek-Serbian monk Nicodemus, the founder also of the monastery of Tismana in south Romania. For many years the monastery was known as the Silivașu Monastery. It is still a popular pilgrimage destination, as it attracts thousands of visitors, mainly Christians (Orthodox, Roman-Catholic, Greek-Catholic, and Evangelical) from Romania and outside. The pilgrimage’s first reason is the miracle-working tomb of Arsenie Boca (1910-1989), one of the most important charismatic Orthodox monks of the 20th century Romania (Giușcă, 2020), also called the Saint of Transylvania (“Sfântul Ardealului”).
Secondly, the pilgrims are attracted due to the cave of Saint John the Eremite (known as St. John of Prislop), a 17th-century local monk who lived in a cave he dug himself in nearby (in the forest). Third, the presence of a miraculous water spring, already attested in the end of the 16th century for its miraculous healings, is also another point of interest for the pilgrims. Fourth, it is also a memory locus for the Romanian Greek Catholics (that recalls the time when the monastery belonged to Greek Catholics: between 1762-1948). Arsenie Boca was the monastery’s first superior and spiritual father after it was taken from Greek Catholics in 1948. Fearing the growing popularity of this spiritual figure, state authorities tried to put a hold on local religious activities: in 1959, Boca was deposed from priestly functions and deported to Bucharest, and the monastery was closed. However, in 1976, the monastery was reopened as a nunnery, yet we still know too little about the social and religious life at the monastery. How did locals react to the interference of Party members and the secret police? what counterstrategies followed the disbandment of the Greek-Catholic church and the transfer of the monastery to the Orthodox church?
Thus, the focus in this research will be on how these places inside of the monastery are visited and implicitly assumed by non-Orthodox.