The Great and Saint Rightful King Stefan is remembered in the second day of July

The Rightful King Great and Saint Stefan is remembered in the second day of July, the defender of Christianity, the symbol of our national pride. On the 2nd of July 1504 King Stefan the Great passed into a better world. Born from the land of Moldova, Stefan the Great was respected by the people as a kind, great and saint person. Kind for his charity acts, great for the skillfulness with which he governed the country, and saint for his work of defending Christianity and building many churches and monasteries in the Moldova, Muntenia, Transylvania and on Athos Mountain. Stefan the Great and Saint was born in Borzesti, having as his parents King Bogdan the Second and his wife Maria-Malina Oltea. From young childhood he showed great love towards his country and towards his ancestor’s religion. After his father was killed, he becomes leader of Moldova on the 12th of April 1457. Stefan the Great fought for defending the entire Christianity “until death”, as it is written in the letter addressed to the leaders of Christian countries from that period, calling them to the “saint fight” of defending the religion. The battle from Vaslui and the victory against the Turkish army, that was bigger then the Moldovan ones, is considered by the military science an action performed with a strategy never used before 1475. According to the historians, at Vaslui the sultan of the Turkish Empire, Muhamed the Second, run with the remains with his big army back to Constantinople due to the strategy of Stefan. Before the battle, Stefan burned the surrounding areas for the Turkish army, in order to lure them into the trap from Vaslui; this strategy was afterwards implemented by other army leaders. Due to the echo about Stefan’s courage, the Turks didn’t even try to transform Moldova into a Turkish country, leaving it only under the suzerainty of the Turkish Empire. The history pages remind about the respect and belief of the nation for Stefan. From his death till now, the grave from Putna Monastery is guarded by a candle that always burns.