#Văratec Monastery

The article analyses the terms ‘luminare’ and ‘lumânare’ in Eminescu’s poetry, demonstrating that the editorial modernisations carried out by Titu Maiorescu, Perpessicius and others have distorted the meaning of the original expressions in ‘Letter I’, ‘The Night’ and ‘The Veranda Sonnet’, by confusing the lamp with the candle and undermining the coherence of the poetic image of light.

The text recounts the friendship spanning nearly three decades between the author and Bartolomeu Anania, from the moment they met at the enthronement of Metropolitan Antonie of Transylvania in February 1982 right through to the years following the fall of the communist regime. Through specific anecdotal episodes – visits to Căldărușani, late-night discussions in the studio flat near Cișmigiu Park, the dinner at Căldărușani attended by Patriarch Teoctist and Protosinghel Daniel Ciobotea – the author portrays Anania’s character as a theologian, writer and witness to the Church’s recent history, highlighting the value of his work, from Rotonda plopilor aprinși and Greul pământului to File de acatist and Cerurile Oltului.