On the side of the mountain, on the right side of the road that goes from the Polovragi Monastery to the cave of the same name, there is a grotto that has a very special story. Inside it, when he felt that his end was approaching, a monk, Corneliu Săbăreanu, set up a bed and an altar for prayer and then built the entrance, remaining closed in the heart of the mountain.
Although it has been a long time since his death, the shrine in the cave still exists today, with one daring tourist daring to reach it and light a candle. Late in the evening, after the vespers, the evening service, Mother Evghenia Vaida, abbess of the Polovragi Monastery, told us, in a low voice, who that wonderful man was, whose life has become a legend today:
"I know all these things from father Caliopi Georgescu, the exarch of the monasteries in Oltenia, who died at the age of 74. He told me that father Săbăreanu was from Bucharest and, before he became a monk, he had the position of prefect of Vlaşca county. I don't know exactly where this county was, but Săbăreanu was a very rich man. He, like his brother, graduated from the Faculty of Law in Paris, and after the death of his father and brother, he remained lord over a great deal of land and over many slaves.
One day, going to the estate, he found some very serious irregularities and had to take some slaves to bring them to Bucharest to be investigated and arrested. Going by carts, as it was at that time, they arrived in Bucharest in the evening. It was Maundy Thursday, before Easter, and all the bells were ringing for the denizens. When he heard those sounds, something changed in him. How can I take these people to arrest them when the Savior died on the cross for us? He freed them all, then he went to his mother and said: Mother, from now on I am no longer in charge of the estate. I'm leaving, I'm going to become a monk. And he went to Mount Athos.
He also completed the Faculty of Theology in Athens and, after a while, he returned to the country, during the reign of Queen Maria. He was its priest. He knew about five foreign languages well. Following some research he did, he found the Polovragi Monastery very dilapidated. She was so poor and bitter that it rained in the church. A basin was placed on the holy table so that the water would collect in it and not wet the altar. His
Săbăreanu took pity on him and went to Novaci, exchanged some currency he had and pawned several personal gold items, and with the money taken he repaired the monastery church.
Later he located here and stayed for a few years. Feeling that his end was approaching, in the spring of 1926 he retired to the cave. He did not live long, on July 26 he died. He was buried there, in the cave, and only after 31 years, in 1957, were his remains brought to the monastery cemetery by the father abbot"
In a corner of the inner courtyard, near the infirmary of the Polovragi Monastery, surrounded by the silence of the mountains, several crosses stand guard at the head of some servants of the holy place. On one of them is written: "Archimandrite Corneliu Sabareanu awaits the resurrection of the dead here. Born on 25 March 1840, died on 26 July 1926. God forbid any mistake. Amen."
Text taken from the presentation panel displayed at the entrance to the cave
