Sebastian the Hermit

Sebastian was a schemamonk and priest, a hermit in the forests of Tecuci and the first abbot of Sihastru Skete, in the eighteenth century. He fell asleep after 1748, more than ten years after the skete was built. He is named in the Romanian Paterikon and venerated by the faithful, without synodal canonization; the sources available to us give no day of commemoration.

He had taken his vows at Bogdana Monastery in Târgu Ocna, where he struggled in the first years of the century. Desiring stillness, he became a hermit in the forests of Tecuci, across the Siret Valley. At night he prayed in his cell with vigil and prostrations, by day he worked in the garden and gathered healing herbs and flowers in the forest, praying with the mind. He gave the plants to the sick and, according to the Paterikon, many were healed through his prayers, so that he became known in all the villages and many sufferers came to his dugout.

Around 1740 there was a hard battle in those forests between Moldavians and Tatars, and the hetman Sandu Șendrea was wounded in the leg. The hermit found him in the forest, tormented by pain, took him to his cell and cared for him. The hetman promised, in tears, that if he recovered he would raise a church and monastery in that place. In a few months he recovered, through the hermit's prayer and plants. In thanks, Șendrea built at his own expense a church and a few cells beside the hermit's dugout, dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius. The place was called Sihastru Skete, after the venerable one's name. Sebastian received priesthood and became the first founder and abbot of the skete. The church was consecrated in 1748 by Bishop Ioanichie of Roman.

He became a spiritual father for many believers, known as far as the prince of Moldavia. He lived more than ten years longer and passed to the Lord in peace, leaving many disciples in the skete.