Daniel the Hesychast

Saint Daniel the Hesychast (early fifteenth century to 1496) was a hermit and spiritual father of northern Moldavia, counsellor of Prince Stephen the Great and abbot of the Voroneț monastery. He was canonized by the Romanian Orthodox Church at the session of the Holy Synod of 20 to 21 June 1992, as "Saint Venerable Daniil the Hesychast", and his feast was set for 18 December.

Beginnings

He was born at the beginning of the fifteenth century in a village near Rădăuți, with the baptismal name Demetrius. At sixteen he was tonsured a monk with the name David, at the monastery in Rădăuți (the English source calls it Bogdana, the Romanian one the monastery of Saint Nicholas). After some time he withdrew to the monastery of Saint Lawrence near Vicovu de Sus. Feeling the need of still more quiet, he took the great schema, receiving the name Daniil, and withdrew to a wooded and hard-⁠to-⁠reach place in the valley of the Vițău stream, near present-⁠day Putna.

The hermit and Stephen the Great

There he found a rock in which he carved a chapel. The porch, nave and altar can still be seen today, and below them a room carved in the rock, which served him as a cell. In 1451 Stephen the Great came to him, after the murder of his father Bogdan II at Reuseni, and the hermit prophesied that he would soon be prince of Moldavia, which happened in 1457. At Daniil's urging Stephen built the monastery of Putna, in 1466. After its consecration, in 1470, Daniil withdrew to Voroneț, on the bank of the Voroneț stream, under the Falcon Rock, where he continued his monastic life.

At Voroneț Stephen visited him again, after the defeat at Valea Albă (Războieni) in 1476, asking his counsel. Daniil advised him to continue the struggle against the Turks, foreseeing that he would win, which indeed happened. In memory of the victory, in 1488 the prince built the monastery of Voroneț. After its consecration Daniil moved from his cell into the monastery and spent the last part of his life there, elected abbot. He reposed in 1496 and was buried in the church of the Voroneț monastery. On the gravestone, made at Stephen's wish, it is written: "This is the tomb of our father David, the schemamonk Daniil". On the outer wall of the church, to the left of the entrance door, are painted Gregory Roșca, the metropolitan, and Daniil the Hesychast, his mentor.

Legacy

Daniil the Hesychast was at the origin of a hesychast movement in northern Moldavia, with many disciples in the forests around Voroneț, at the sketes and monasteries nearby. He urged Stephen the Great to fight in defence of Christendom and to build holy places. He was considered a saint already in his lifetime, for he healed the sick, cast out demons and brought comfort to those who suffered.