Stachys of Probota

Stachius was an archimandrite and abbot of Probota Monastery in the second half of the fifteenth century, a secret counsellor of Stephen the Great. 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.

A monk advanced in good works and a skilled confessor, he was chosen in 1460 as abbot of Probota, an old Mușatin foundation in the Siret valley, which he led with the fear of God for more than ten years. He gathered more than sixty monks around him, teaching them humility, obedience and love of Christ. At Probota he founded a monastic school in which teachers, abbots, calligraphers and, above all, village priests were trained.

Seeing that his parents' church was in danger of collapsing because of the slippery ground, Stephen the Great built, at Stachius's urging, a new monastery nearby, with a church and cells. The church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas and intended as a princely necropolis, was consecrated before 1465 in the prince's presence. In 1465 the prince's mother, Lady Oltea, sensing her end near, received monastic tonsure from Stachius, with the name Maria, and was buried in the church crypt. The prince, Metropolitan Teoctist and the dignitaries of Moldavia were present at the funeral. A year later the prince's wife, Evdokia, was laid in the same crypt.

Stachius led Probota until 1472 and renewed it entirely. Then he left one of his disciples as abbot and for many years remained a spiritual father, known across Moldavia, with disciples in monasteries, fortresses and villages. His end came in peace; the Paterikon says he gave everyone the last kiss and committed his soul to Christ.