Deep in the woods of Vorona, about 20 kilometers from the city of Botosani, at the end of a forest road is the Hermitage of Sihăstria Voronei, a monastery of monks several hundred years old. It is a secluded hermitage, apparently without much importance, but which still attracts, like a magnet, hundreds of believers from Moldova. I find the reason sheltered by the small church in the center of the monastic settlement.

The Pious Onufrie, sanctified and celebrated by the Romanian Orthodox Church on September 9, as Saint Pious Onufrie from Vorona, has been resting here for almost three centuries.

The news that the relics of Saint Onufrie work wonders created a new pilgrimage route in the woods of Vorona, both at the hermitage, but especially at the limestone cave where the Pious Onufrie lived far from the world in fasting and prayer for 25 years.

In fact, since his death, the Saint of Vorona has been surrounded by myth and legend, including great miracles performed for one of the rulers of Moldova. In addition, his story is as mysterious as it is fascinating.

The mysterious choice of a Russian nobleman

The pious Onufrie arrived in Moldavia around 1749. At least this is shown by the church sources and the testimonies of some important hieromonks of the time such as Paisie Velicicovski. He came from Russia and seeks the peace of the forests of Moldova but also the teaching of the famous clergy and hermits from the Neamt and Suceava area. Onufrie also knows Vasile from Poiana Mărului and Paisie Velicicovski finds him at Dragomirna Monastery in Suceava County. In fact, a strong friendship will be forged between Paisie and Onufrie.

But little is known about the Pious Onufrie, from a biographical point of view. His name as a layman is not known, nor where exactly he came from. All that was known was that he was Russian and of noble origin. In fact, he was from a family that was related to Tsar Peter I.

That is why Onufrie, in his secular life, was governor, probably of a province in the area of ​​today’s Ukraine. It is said that he led the court life of a Russian aristocrat, accustomed to the French fashion introduced by Tsar Peter I among the nobility.

At some point, however, mysteriously, the Russian nobleman leaves his family, ranks and gives up his fortune. He left as a hermit, under the name of Onufrie, in the forests of Moldova. He walks almost all the way.

He was supposed to be between 30 and 40 years old when he arrived in Moldova. The fact that he came from an aristocratic family was proven and in fact that he had a solid culture, he knew how to write very beautifully and in addition he managed to make very good translations of various religious works. In those days, only members of aristocratic families, financially strong, could benefit from a chosen education.

In the wilderness of the Vorona forests

After 15 years of state in various monastic communities in Moldova, the pious Onufrie feels the need for a total withdrawal. He would have found out that in the forests of Vorona, Botoşani county, today, some dense and isolated forests would have been monasteries inhabited by Russian monks. He left for Vorona and it is said that he arrived in these lands around 1764. Then a monk will come to the Hermitage of Sihăstria Vorona, inhabited by Romanian and Russian monks. He receives the quality of hermit. He retreats to a limestone cave in the woods of Vorona and has lived here for 25 years. All he did was pray and meditate. The rest of the time he made beautiful copies of the Scriptures or other holy books.

He had taken the covenant of silence and spent the day in fasting, eating only once after sunset. He slept only a few hours in his stone cell and then returned to prayer and meditation.

In 1789, the pious Onufrie would die. His transition to the afterlife would have been preceded by a miracle. Just a few days before the death of the Russian hermit, a priest from Tudora had a vision and was directed to the cave of the Pious Onufrie. Here, the hermit was found ill and taken to the Hermitage of Sihăstria Voronei. Here he died shortly afterwards and was buried at the root of an apple tree, near the church within the monastic complex.

The miracles of Onufrie and the passage among the Saints

After Onufrie’s death, several miracles were attested or talked about that would have taken place at the saint’s tomb. Many people would have healed after touching the grave or would have eaten apples from the tree next to the grave. One of the best known cases is that of Prince Mihai Sturza. It is said that the ruler arrived at the Hermitage of Vorona in 1846. Here he received an apple from the tree near the tomb of the Saint and told him to give it to his daughter with epilepsy. The child ate the apple and would have healed.

The ruler then demanded the exhumation of Onufrie’s bones. Then another miracle would have happened, the body of the Pious being incorruptible. His relics were first placed in the altar of the Vorona Monastery, then a monastery of monks. Later, following a dream, had by the abbot of the Vorona monastery, also in the 19th century, the relics of the Pious Onufrie were taken to the Hermitage of Sihăstria Vorona. He was later passed among the Saints and celebrated on September 9.

Place of pilgrimage in the forests of Vorona

Even today, the places where the Pious Onufrie lived are a place of pilgrimage, especially for the faithful of Moldova. Many say that the Saint of Vorona continues to work miracles, especially at the coffin with his relics. Many walk through the forest on a picturesque path to the limestone cave where he lived for 25 years as a hermit. They come and pray, hoping for a miracle from the Saint. “I went to the doctor with my husband and the doctors were booked. I came here to pray. Only God and Saint Onufrie can not defend “, confesses a woman from Botosani who came to the cave of the Pious. Others go on this route only for the beauty of nature and the cave, arranged today in the form of an altar.

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