The study analyses the church press in Bessarabia at the end of the 19th century - the beginning of the 20th century. Based on our research of publications from this period we shall argue that the church press in Bessarabia served not only as a liaison between the czarist authorities and the province (guberniya), but also as an efficient means of control. Thus, the historic links between the believers from both sides of the Prut river were being neglected. Local population did not have access to church press in Romanian language, this resulting in an indifferent and passive civic attitude within the civil society. In other order of ideas, representatives of Bessarabian priests have participated in editing of church literature. In this sense, contributions from such persons as the editor Arsenie Stadniţchi, the archimandrite Gurie and the priests Mihail Ceachir, Alexie Mateevici and Iosif Parhomovici have been very important. As a result, there have been certain developments in 19th century Bessarabia that have partially animated the process of editing church literature. This led to the release of "Luminatorul", the only publication where Bessarabian clergy could express their ideas in the local language.