conversion through suffering | Martyria

Ars Christiana No. II (XX) / 2025 ‘The Ladder’ or ‘A Short Treatise on the Artist’s Salvation’

The film Scara (2021), directed by Vlad Păunescu from a screenplay by Constantin Chelba, follows the existential journey of the actor Andrei Avram, inspired by the life of Dragoș Pâslaru, set against the backdrop of the Romanian theatre scene in the final years of communism and the turmoil of the transition period, culminating in the protagonist’s transformation through suffering, the film’s central theme.

Studia Theologica No. I (VIII) / 2019 God’s goodness and human suffering in the teachings of a great Shepherd of souls: Saint John Chrysostom Archimandrite Dr Policarp Chițulescu

This article analyses the theology of suffering in St John Chrysostom, presenting it as God’s loving pedagogy towards sinners and the righteous alike. Through references to the Homilies on the Statues, the correspondence with the deaconess Olympias, and the biblical examples of Job and Paul, it is shown that afflictions serve a punitive, purifying and stimulating purpose, forming part of the divine economy, which is full of wisdom and love.