Stefan Cel Mare (Stephan the Great)

Mari Muşat
My older brother is Ştefan cel Mare Muşat. We live lived in Romania together with our little sister- Nina, our father- Ştefan cel Muşat II, and our uncle- Petru. Ştefan helped maintain Moldova and helped her become a strong independent state to stand up for herself against the Ottoman Empire’s rage. He was born in 1435 and was nominated for “The Best Romanian of All Time” in 2006 and was considered as “holy” by most Christians. From observing my brother’s loyalty, I learned to stay true to family always.
When I was young, I remember going to a wedding for one of my father’s bodyguards. Uncle Petru was fighting with my father; they never got along, so it was not out of the ordinary. About fifteen minutes later, father was lying on the ground, dead, and everyone was fleeing and screaming. It was an ambush! Uncle Petru had been planning this attack for months!!! He seemed to enjoy it- until he was thrown into jail and decapitated by the king himself a day later. This event went against all of my life lessons of family loyalty.
With mom already dead, Ştefan took Nina and I in each arm and we all fled to Transylvania (modern day Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Italy, Spain, and the Ukraine). While in Transylvania, Vlad Dracula III claimed to be father’s friend and took us in, but really, he hated father and killed Nina. We had to flee from Transylvania to Russia because of fear, and an outbreak of plague among 700,000 Hungarian troops stationed in Transylvania for war training in the Ottoman Empire. Most of our village in Budapest was wiped out in one week. The plague swept through all of Europe and killed 2 million people. While running for our lives, we met a traveling family on the outskirts of Volga (a city close to the border of Russia and Europe, but closer Russia). They were in need of shelter; Stefan was generous enough to share supplies with the family on our long trip. The family became very negative on the journey, but I showed them the bright side in everything we encountered. I had learned to do this by observing Stefan.
Ştefan was a great person after leaving his violent life behind and devoting his life to Jesus Christ in Moscow. After that, people even looked upon him as a “Saint.” Most people called him a saint only because he recognized the Roman Catholic Church and did good deeds, but even Christians thought he was “holy”. Today we would call it “he talked his talk and walked his walk.” Ştefan definitely showed courage in the evil Medieval Era. He was buried in the Monastery of Putna. The Monastery of Putna is now a church dedicated in his honor. The monastery even has the seal of Moldova engraved in marble! Stefan used his ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action
Pronunciations
Ş = sh Ţ=z
Ştefan