Tuesday, June 20, 2023

It is the 20th of June, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org, I’m Dan van Voorhis.

One of the things that graduate school hit home for me was the need for English speakers to learn other languages- and not just your standard European languages. In our information age, we tend to think everything is available- somewhere online and somewhere in English. But it’s not. Perhaps if this was the case, I could tell you more about Traian Dorz- but hopefully, hearing what you can about this remarkable Christian in Cold War Romania, behind the Iron Curtain, you will search out what you can, or who knows, maybe you’re one of those who could give us non-Romanian speakers more insight into the life and poetry of this man, Dorz who died on this the 20th June in 1989- this was just months before the Romanian Revolution and the fall of Ceauşescu. But it seems that Dorz was the person the persecuted church in Romania needed.

Traian Dorz was born in 1914 in the village of Râturi- modern-day Livada in the north near the Ukrainian border. He grew up as a peasant but excelled enough in school to receive an award- a book called “Noah’s Ark” by Iosif Trifa- a Romanian Orthodox priest who had founded a movement within the church called the “Army of God.” The Army of God might be described as an evangelical movement within the Romanian Orthodox Church- they stressed the need to be reborn and to live intentional lives of devotion. The Romanian Orthodox Church was and is still a significant cultural juggernaut- even during Communist rule, the leaders saw that it was too popular, at least culturally, to do away with. Instead of shutting down the church, it did what was for them the next best thing- install what could be considered puppet leaders willing to bend to the state.  

This is what made the Army of God so dangerous-a state-sponsored faith meant nothing to them. And it's what made them so appealing to a young Dorz. He wrote to the Army of God and Trifa. By 1934 he joined their ranks and worked as an editor for various publications made by the organization. He was also a poet, writing a collection of poems called “Golgotha” and “On the Way of the Cross.” When Trifa died in 1938, Dorz was one of the leaders of the movement.

It was banned in 1949. They were told they needed to register as an independent movement- but Dorz insisted that they were not- that they were Romanian Orthodox, even if they fought with the leadership of that church. Dorz would write to other Eastern Orthodox leaders to gain support, but the church behind the Iron Curtain was wary of making waves.

Dorz was arrested for the first time in 1947 for having “religious propaganda”- he would be released only to be imprisoned again. This would be the pattern of his life through the 1980s. His poems became popular “samizdat”- that is, the hand-copied secret material circulating underground amidst the faithful. His works would be collected and burned by authorities- he would commit many of his works to memory such that they could be recopied. A story is told by Brian Morgan of Peninsula Bible Church, Cupertino (who knew Dorz and helped print his works in the west to send back into Romania) of him collecting shards of glass, covering them in dust, and writing out poems to then memorize. Wipe the glass and begin again.  

At the age of 70, he was imprisoned for the last time- Morgan tells the story of him showing the love of Christ to the other prisoners by giving away what little he had- Dorz remarked:

“the only way to prove my faith to them and to make a way toward their hearts was to give them the little provision I had: my clothes, my food, my medicines. It was only after seeing this behavior day by day for three months that they began getting closer to me and listened a little about God…There is no better way to get close to people in order to bring them to God than the way of sacrificial love.”

Dorz would die on this, the 20th of June in 1989- his works are today celebrated in Romania, the Christian peasant poet who stood up to the Communist regime. Born in 1914, Traian Dorz was 74 years old.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary- from 2 Thessalonians:

3 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 20th of June 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Romanian is George Murasan- a 7’7” center for the Washington Bullets, and in My Giant with Billy Crystal- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who just learned that The Count of Sesame Street is named “Count von Count” and is from Romania- I am Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.