Gerontius of Tismana

Gherontie of Tismana, born Gheorghe Aldea on 4 November 1934 at Viscri, in Brașov, was a monk and fool for Christ, who died on the night of 12 to 13 October 2018 at Bethlehem, aged eighty-⁠three. His body was brought back to the country and buried beside the altar of Tismana Monastery. He is venerated by the faithful, without synodal canonization; we know of no official canonization steps.

He was the second of three children of Ioan and Elena Aldea, peasants. At primary school his unusual piety drew criticism and punishment from the teacher and mockery from his classmates. He helped the family in the fields, and as a teenager devoted himself to prayer and fasting. He often went to his uncle, the protosyncellus Modest Aldea, abbot of Ciolanu Monastery and later sacristan of the cathedral in Buzău, whose cell disciple he was.

In the autumn of 1959 the communists required young monks to leave the monasteries, and he refused to leave Ciolanu. He was imprisoned at Jilava and several times committed to psychiatric hospitals. After a vision of the Mother of God, he took the path of foolishness for Christ. After 1990 he continued his ascetic labours and travelled to meet people, being regarded as a healer and spiritual guide.

After his death, believers say healings have happened by touching objects worn or used by him, his photograph or the cross on his grave, and that the signs of death did not touch his body eight days after his passing. In May 2021 an exhibition of his works opened at the Romanian Gallery. The sources available to us give no details about his tonsure, his years at Tismana or his illness before death.