Confessor 18th century

Saint Sophronius of Ciorara

first half of the 18th century – after 1771

Also known as Sofronie of Cioara

A Romanian monk who organized Orthodox resistance to forced union and defended the village Orthodox communities of Transylvania.

Feast Day

October 21

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Sophronius of Ciorara, Confessor of Transylvania

Life

Saint Sophronius of Ciorara (born Stan Popa, also rendered Popovici) was a Romanian monk and confessor of Transylvania who, in the mid-18th century, organized Orthodox resistance to the forced union of the Transylvanian church with Rome and defended the Orthodox communities of the region's villages.

Born in the first half of the 18th century in Cioara (now Săliștea, Alba County, Transylvania, then under the Habsburg Empire), he first served as an Orthodox priest in his village. After his wife's death he received monastic tonsure in Wallachia and returned home, where he built a small wooden monastery, the Cioara Skete, in the forest near his village.

Between 1759 and 1761 he led a popular movement through the villages of Ardeal (Transylvania), urging the people to keep the Orthodox faith against Uniate propaganda and Catholic persecution. His agitation, repeated arrests, and the peasant revolts that freed him pressed the Habsburg authorities toward religious toleration and the restoration of an Orthodox bishop for the Transylvanian Romanians.

He spent his final years in the monasteries of Wallachia and was numbered among the saints by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1955, with a feast day of October 21.

Timeline 9 moments Read Hide

c. 1756 Tonsure and the Cioara Skete After his wife's death, Sophronius received monastic tonsure in Wallachia (possibly at Cozia Monastery) and returned to Cioara, where he built a small wooden hermitage in the forest, the Cioara Skete, and devoted himself to monastic life.
Spring 1757 Destruction of the monastery Austrian authorities destroyed his monastery and arrested Orthodox clergy who opposed the union with Rome.
Oct 6, 1759 Proclamation at Brad From Brad in Hunedoara County, Sophronius announced that Empress Maria Theresa's Edict of Toleration granted the people freedom to choose between the Orthodox and the Greek-Catholic faith, launching his movement.
Feb 13, 1760 Released by revolt at Bobâlna He was forcibly released from jail at Bobâlna after some 600 peasants revolted on his behalf.
1760 Preaching through the villages He addressed the Orthodox community at Zlatna (Apr 21) and at Abrud (May 12); arrested at the Abrud church on Aug 2, he was again released after about 7,000 peasants revolted.
Feb 14–18, 1761 Synod at Alba Iulia He organized an Orthodox Synod at Alba Iulia, assembling a great crowd and demanding total religious freedom, equal rights under law for the Romanians, and an Orthodox bishop for the region; his demands were granted that same year.
1761 Flight to Wallachia General Adolf von Buccow was dispatched to arrest him, but Sophronius escaped across the mountains into Wallachia.
1764–1771 Final years in the monasteries He lived at Robaia Monastery (1764–1766), Vieroși Monastery (1766–1771), and finally Curtea de Argeș Monastery, where he reposed not long afterward.
Oct 21, 1955 Canonization The Romanian Orthodox Church numbered him among the saints at Alba Iulia, designating October 21 as his feast day.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributions Read Hide

Historical Context

In Habsburg-ruled Transylvania of the 18th century, the authorities promoted the union of the Orthodox Romanian church with Rome, creating the Greek-Catholic (Uniate) church and pressing the Orthodox population toward it. Orthodox clergy who resisted were subject to arrest and persecution, and Orthodox parishes lost their legal standing.

Sophronius emerged as the organizer of village resistance to this forced union. Traveling through the villages of Ardeal, he encouraged the people to keep their Orthodox faith amid intense Uniate propaganda, and he suffered repeated arrests for it — by one account, nine times in all.

Legacy

Sophronius's movement helped prompt Empress Maria Theresa to issue a new Edict of Toleration in 1769, which granted legal status to the 'Eastern Greek Cult' and established Orthodoxy as an official religion in Transylvania; Emperor Joseph II's Patent of Toleration of October 13, 1781, further secured religious tolerance.

His agitation also achieved the appointment of Dionisie Novacovic as the first Orthodox bishop for the Transylvanians since 1701, restoring an Orthodox hierarchy for the region.

Commemorated With

He is commemorated together with the other Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Romania persecuted by the Roman Catholics: Bessarion Sarai, Oprea Miclăuș, Moses Măcinic, and John of Galeș.

Notes

Among the Confessors of Transylvania.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints