Fr. Nicolae Bordasiu (+2018), a survivor of torture in Communist prisons, gives us a heartbreaking testimony of how God and prayer help in a context of forced isolation. Fr. Nicolae was imprisoned for 9 years, between 1955-1964 and he was a confessor of faith during the Communist regime in Romania.
Video source: TRINITAS TV © 2018 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaHom6V63Rs) / Interview by His Grace Bishop Macarie Dragoi of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe.
Fr. Nicolae:
Being imprisoned is a very difficult condition. Lack of physical freedom is hard to bear. And if it were not for the faith in the good God and the power of prayer to support all those who were imprisoned, they would not have remained with a healthy mind…
The third time, I was kept isolated, on the 2nd floor, in a cell, alone, for 3 months. I did not leave the cell, nor see anyone, I did not have a blanket to cover my body, the food was scarce, and they were expecting that I would lose my mind. But even here, God with his providence knew what to do and the guardian who was watching me was a former miner from Bihor who used to come when no one saw him, in the evening, and we were talking about educational matters, and he used to bring me an extra cup of water. The fact that I was dehydrating because of the lack of food and drink and this terrible isolation, they thought that this would affect me, but God kept me whole… Father Arsenie [Boca] told me that I would not die in prison… and so I reached the moment of release…