He then spent ten days in meditation before asking God to receive him into the ranks of the monks at Cernica Monastery on March 8, 1956. Already elected metropolitan, on March 15, 1956 Patriarch Justinian, Metropolitan Firmilian of Oltenia and Bishop Nicolae Colan of Cluj ordained him into the episcopate. Three days later, in the Sibiu Metropolitan Cathedral, he was given Andrei Șaguna’s crozier. During his short stay in Sibiu, among other activities, he founded the theological magazine "Mitropolia Ardealului" (nr. 1–2, Sep–Oct 1956) in place of the defunct "Revista Teologică".