Saints
“The Iconographer”
St. Sofian of Antim
Archimandrite of Antim Monastery · Iconographer and Confessor
The abbot and master iconographer of the Antim Monastery in Bucharest, a gentle confessor who endured years in the communist prisons and adorned the churches of Romania and beyond with his frescoes.
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- Born
- October 7, 1912 (Cuconeștii Vechi, Bessarabia)
- Reposed
- September 14, 2002 (Bucharest)
- See
- Antim Monastery, Bucharest
- Feast
- September 14
His life
He was born Serghie Boghiu in 1912 in a village of Bessarabia, and entered the monastery of Dobrușa as a youth, where his gift for drawing was noticed and turned to the painting of icons. He took the name Sofian at his tonsure.
He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest, joining the brotherhood of the Antim Monastery and the Burning Bush circle of spiritual renewal that gathered there in the years after the war.
In 1958 he was arrested with other members of the Burning Bush and imprisoned by the communist regime; he bore the years of confinement without bitterness and was remembered by fellow prisoners for his peace.
After his release he led the Antim Monastery as abbot, restoring and painting churches across Romania, Lebanon, and Western Europe, and serving as a beloved confessor to countless faithful and clergy. He reposed in Bucharest on September 14, 2002.
Licensed Works
Books in print
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Saint Sofian of Antim: The Urban Hesychast
By Archimandrite Sofian Boghiu
St. John Chrysostom Press
The counsels and spiritual teaching of Father Sofian Boghiu, abbot and iconographer of Antim Monastery in Bucharest, who kept the inner stillness of the Hesychasts amid the city and the trials of the communist years.
Holy St. Sofian of Antim, pray to God for us.