Venerable Sofian the Confessor of Antim was born on October 7, 1912, in the Romanian village of Cuconeștii Vechi, Bălți County.
He entered monastic life at the Rughi Skete in Soroca in the autumn of 1926, bearing the name Sergei Boghiu. From 1928 to 1932, he attended the school for church chanters at Dobrua-Soroca Monastery. He was tonsured a monk on December 25, 1937, and on August 6, 1939, he was ordained a hierodeacon in the cathedral of the city of Bălți. In 1940, he graduated from the Monastic Seminary at Cernica Monastery. Gifted with a talent for painting, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest from 1940 to 1945. From 1942 to 1946, he also studied at the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest.
In 1945, he was ordained a hieromonk and assigned to Antim Monastery in Bucharest. He was among the best-known participants in the cultural and spiritual gatherings of the Burning Bush movement at Antim Monastery, a group that brought together prominent figures of the Orthodox clergy and Christian lay intelligentsia between 1945 and 1950.
From 1950 to 1958, he served as abbot of Antim Monastery and subsequently of Plumbuita Monastery. He also painted several churches, including Deir-el Harf Monastery in Lebanon, Homs Cathedral in Syria, a church in Hama, Radu Vodă Monastery, and Darvari Skete. For several years the Saint taught at the Monastic Seminary at Neamț Monastery.
In 1958, he was sentenced to hard labor for his activities within the Burning Bush movement. He was released in 1964 following a general amnesty decree. He remained at Antim Monastery until the end of his earthly life, serving with great gentleness and devotion as a spiritual father and having hundreds of spiritual children. For this reason, he came to be known as the “Spiritual Father of Bucharest.”
He reposed in the Lord on September 14, 2002, and was buried at Căldărușani Monastery.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church canonized him in 2024, establishing September 16 as his feast day, together with fifteen other confessors of the twentieth century. The general proclamation of the canonization of the sixteen saints took place on February 4 at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, on the occasion of the centenary of the establishment of the Romanian Patriarchate.
The Venerable Sofian of Antim is the first canonized Orthodox saint who lived in the twenty-first century.
He entered monastic life at the Rughi Skete in Soroca in the autumn of 1926, bearing the name Sergei Boghiu. From 1928 to 1932, he attended the school for church chanters at Dobrua-Soroca Monastery. He was tonsured a monk on December 25, 1937, and on August 6, 1939, he was ordained a hierodeacon in the cathedral of the city of Bălți. In 1940, he graduated from the Monastic Seminary at Cernica Monastery. Gifted with a talent for painting, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest from 1940 to 1945. From 1942 to 1946, he also studied at the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest.
In 1945, he was ordained a hieromonk and assigned to Antim Monastery in Bucharest. He was among the best-known participants in the cultural and spiritual gatherings of the Burning Bush movement at Antim Monastery, a group that brought together prominent figures of the Orthodox clergy and Christian lay intelligentsia between 1945 and 1950.
From 1950 to 1958, he served as abbot of Antim Monastery and subsequently of Plumbuita Monastery. He also painted several churches, including Deir-el Harf Monastery in Lebanon, Homs Cathedral in Syria, a church in Hama, Radu Vodă Monastery, and Darvari Skete. For several years the Saint taught at the Monastic Seminary at Neamț Monastery.
In 1958, he was sentenced to hard labor for his activities within the Burning Bush movement. He was released in 1964 following a general amnesty decree. He remained at Antim Monastery until the end of his earthly life, serving with great gentleness and devotion as a spiritual father and having hundreds of spiritual children. For this reason, he came to be known as the “Spiritual Father of Bucharest.”
He reposed in the Lord on September 14, 2002, and was buried at Căldărușani Monastery.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church canonized him in 2024, establishing September 16 as his feast day, together with fifteen other confessors of the twentieth century. The general proclamation of the canonization of the sixteen saints took place on February 4 at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, on the occasion of the centenary of the establishment of the Romanian Patriarchate.
The Venerable Sofian of Antim is the first canonized Orthodox saint who lived in the twenty-first century.
Troparion
O worker of prayer, Venerable Father Sofian, skilled iconographer of the Church, you who, through the grace of the Spirit, painted the image of the Savior in the souls of men, and in prison, for the sake of the faith, suffered together with all the saints; now that you are in the heavens, pray unceasingly to God for us.
Kontakion
Tone 8, To the melody: “To you, the champion leader…”
Come, all you faithful, let us praise the divinely-illumined spiritual father of Bucharest, who, in times of persecution, confessed Christ, guided his disciples with the wisdom of grace, and adorned the holy churches with wondrous icons; and from our hearts let us cry out to him: Rejoice, Venerable Father Sofian, skilled iconographer of souls!
O worker of prayer, Venerable Father Sofian, skilled iconographer of the Church, you who, through the grace of the Spirit, painted the image of the Savior in the souls of men, and in prison, for the sake of the faith, suffered together with all the saints; now that you are in the heavens, pray unceasingly to God for us.
Kontakion
Tone 8, To the melody: “To you, the champion leader…”
Come, all you faithful, let us praise the divinely-illumined spiritual father of Bucharest, who, in times of persecution, confessed Christ, guided his disciples with the wisdom of grace, and adorned the holy churches with wondrous icons; and from our hearts let us cry out to him: Rejoice, Venerable Father Sofian, skilled iconographer of souls!
