| Optina Elders Lives of Saints Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 Optina Elders Anastasia Mar 6, 2007, 20:55 Discuss this article Printer friendly page The Optina Elders The Startsi of Optina Monastery are holy fathers Moses, Antony, Leonid(Lev), Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatolius I, Isaac I, Joseph, Barsanuphius, Anatolius the Younger, Nectarius, Nikon the Confessor, and Hieromartyr Isaac the Younger. Hieromartyr Isaac was shot by the Bolsheviks on December 26 1937. The holy Fathers made the Optina Hermitage (Pustyn) a focus for the powerful renewal movement that spread through the Church in Russia beginning early in the nineteenth century, and continuing up to (and even into) the atheist persecutions of the twentieth century. Saint Paisius Velichkovsky (November 15) was powerfully influential in bringing the almost-lost hesychastic tradition of Orthodox spirituality to Russia in the eighteenth century, and his labors found in Optina Monastery a " headquarters " from which they spread throughout the Russian land. The monastery itself had been in existence since at least the sixteenth century, but had fallen into decay through the anti-monastic policies of Catherine II and other modernizing rulers. Around 1790, Metropolitan Platon of Moscow undertook a mission to restore and revive the monastery in the tradition set forth by St Paisius. By the early 1800s the monastery (located about 80 miles from Moscow) had become a beacon of Orthodox spirituality, partly through their publication of Orthodox spiritual texts, but more importantly through the lineage of divinely-enlightened spiritual fathers (startsi, plural of starets) who served as guides to those, noble and peasant, who flocked to the monastery for their holy counsel. The fathers aroused some controversy in their own day; a few critics (some of them from other monasteries) disapproved of their allowing the Jesus Prayer to become widely-known among the people, fearing that it would give rise to spiritual delusion (prelest). |
| John Anthony McGuckin St. Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833) KONSTANTIN GAVRILKIN St. Seraphim belongs to that tradition of monastic spirituality which was brought to Ancient Rus from Mount Athos in the early 11th century and revived in the late 18th to 19th centuries by Paisy Velichovsky and his followers, among whom one should note St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, St. Feofan (Theophan) the Recluse, and the Optina elders. Prokhor Moshnin (Seraphim’s name prior to his monastic tonsure) was born into a pious merchant family in Kursk. In 1776 he visited the Kiev Caves Monastery, where the elder Dosifei advised him to practice the Jesus Prayer continuously and to enter the Sarov monastery (in Nizhnii Novgorod province). He arrived there in 1778, took monastic vows in 1786, and received the name Seraphim. From his disciples and early biographers, who relied both on his personal testimony and eyewitness accounts, we know that he had multiple mystical experiences, including revelations of Christ and many visitations by the Virgin Mary who guided him throughout his 55-year monastic life and healed him on a number ofoccasions from severe illnesses and injuries. Between 1794 and 1810 Seraphim lived a reclusive life in the forest outside the monastery, spending his time in the practice of the Jesus Prayer, reading Scripture and patristic literature, and engaging in manual labor. One day he was savagely beaten by robbers who left him crippled for the rest of his life; when the attackers were later arrested, he persuaded the authorities to let them go. He returned to the monastery in 1810, but remained in seclusion until 1825, when, at the command of the Virgin Mary, he began to receive people seeking his guidance and healing, and became one of the most renowned startsi of Russia. Seraphim’s extraordinary asceticism and mystical life were witnessed by several of the inhabitants of the Sarov monastery and by visitors whose lives were dramatically changed by their encounter with the saint. |
| Spiritual Guidance in Mount Athos and Russia and the Theological Notion of Person Скачать epub pdf Содержание The Theological Perspective The Purposes of Spiritual Guidance Eldership as an Ideal of Spiritual Leadership The Historical Overview: Kievο-Pechersky Monastery The Hesychasm Movement, St. Serge of Radonezh and His Disciples St. Paisios of Moldova and a Wave of Spiritual Revival in Russia The revival of Russian monasticism on Mount Athos Distinctive Characteristics of the patterns of Orthodox Spiritual Guidance Personal Relationship and its Dynamics in Spiritual Guidance Catholicity and the Person’s Embracing of other Persons Freedom in Spiritual Guidance Creativity and Uniqueness in Spiritual Guidance Humility and Morality in Spiritual Counselling Love, Integrity and Discernment in Spiritual Fatherhood We will consider the great importance in spiritual guidance of the theological notion of the divine and human person. Our main thesis is that it is only through the person and personal communion that the guidance patterns found in the Bible and in the Holy Tradition of asceticism can be understood. Various examples of the influence of the ascetic tradition of Mount Athos on Russian and European religious revivals are highlighted in the framework of personal guidance. St. Paisios Velichkovskiy, the Optina elders, St. Silouan and Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), all of whom derived a rich experience from the Athonite treasuries, are vivid exemplars of personal spiritual guidance in the Orthodox Tradition. Due to its personal character this guidance possesses unique characteristics which distinguish it from other guidance experiences and techniques used in various human activities. ‘Send me a man, who would know Thee’ Symeon the New Theologian. In this paper we aim to show that Mount Athos, as a living, natural part of the Orthodox Tradition, has given us an abundant experience of the importance of the personal character of the relationship between the one who aspires to certain spiritual achievements and the one who guides him on this way. |
| Tweet Нравится Pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Russia with His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia January 28, 2016 The eighth annual pilgrimage to the holy places of Russia will take place this year July 20—August 6 under the guidance of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. This year's pilgrimage includes visits to the churches and cathedrals, monasteries, and holy relics of Moscow, Kazan, Perm, Barnaul, Biisk, and Gorno-Altaisk, and offers a unique opportunity to experience both famous and lesser-known aspects of Russian Church history, spirituality, tradition, and culture. Participants will have the opportunity to celebrate in holy Russia the feasts of the Appearance of the " Kazan " Icon of the Mother of God, St. Olga the Equal-to-the-Apostles, St. Vladimir the Equal-to-the-Apostles, St. Seraphim of Sarov, and the holy prophet Elias. Every day will begin and end with prayers with His Eminence and the faithful pilgrims, as well as several other opportunities to attend the divine services in churches and monasteries throughout Russia, and on the Kazan-Perm cruise. The eighteen day pilgrimage costs per person in addition to airfare. For more details and contact information click here . 28 января 2016 г. Предыдущий Следующий Смотри также 1990: A Pilgrimage to Optina Monastery Catherine Rees 1990: A Pilgrimage to Optina Monastery Much has happened since 1990 when an American recently converted to Orthodoxy made a pilgrimage to the famous home of the Optina Elders—all of the original churches have been rebuilt, new ones added, and the brotherhood is flourishing. Nevertheless, we can wistfully remember those blessed days when Russian Orthodox Christians were sacrificing their time and talent to rebuilt Optina. Here are the impressions of that pilgrim, published in the Orthodox Word. Fr. Seraphim Rose’s Monastery. A photographic pilgrimage by Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) Fr. |
| Tweet Нравится The Holy Elders of Optina Commemoration October 11/24 Synaxis of the Saints of Optina Over the course of one century—from Elder Leonid's arrival in 1829 until the Monastery's forced closure by the Communists in 1923—Optina, with its Skete of St. John the Forerunner, was at the center of a tremendous spiritual revival in Russia. As a result of anti-clerical legislation during the reigns of Emperor Peter I and Empress Catherine II, a general decline in monastic life had taken place across Russia from the middle of the 17th century through the end of the 18th century. While several spiritually well-ordered monasteries still existed, such as Valaam and Sarov, the strict new regulations often forced those desiring to follow the Gospel commandments within the God-ordained monastic life to choose one of two alternatives: either to leave Russia in search of a monastery in one of the neighboring Orthodox countries, or to live this life in the depths of forests, hidden from view. The greatest example of those who chose the first path was St. Paisius Velichkovsky (+ 1794), who labored ascetically on Mount Athos and ended his days at the head of a vast monastic army centered in Moldavia, Romania. A number of his disciples later returned to Russia, bringing with them priceless patristic writings on the spiritual life which had been painstakingly translated by St. Paisius, and which became instrumental in bringing about a new blossoming of sanctity in Russia. An example of those who chose the second way was the community of ascetics who dwelt in the Roslavl Forest of the Bryansk Province in Russia. These ascetics were also nourished by St. Paisius by means of his patristic translations, which reached them through Elder Athanasius, one of St. Paisius' disciples. Elder Leonid (1768—1841) When, at the beginning of the 19th century, a more propitious time for monasticism arrived, and the run-down Optina Monastery was being restored, it was by these ascetics that true monasticism was instituted in Optina. From the Roslavl Forest came the Putilov brothers, Elders Moses and Anthony, who took the reins of the Optina Monastery and established the Optina Skete nearby. They, in turn, brought in Elder Leonid, a disciple of Elders Theodore of Svir and Cleopas of Valaam, both of whom were direct disciples of St. Paisius. |
| Optina Elders Elder Makary " s face was scarred by smallpox, he stuttered and was always poorly dressed, but he was distinguished by a very refined personality. He was born to a landed gentry family, loved music and was a talented violinist. (Reidman) Schema-Archimandrite Avraam 06 March 2007 The Startsi of Optina Monastery are holy fathers Moses, Antony, Leonid(Lev), Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatolius I, Isaac I, Joseph, Barsanuphius, Anatolius the Younger, Nectarius, Nikon the Confessor, and Hieromartyr Isaac the Younger. Hieromartyr Isaac was shot by the Bolsheviks on December 26 1937. The holy Fathers made the Optina Hermitage (Pustyn) a focus for the powerful renewal movement that spread through the Church in Russia beginning early in the nineteenth century, and continuing up to (and even into) the atheist persecutions of the twentieth century. Saint Paisius Velichkovsky (November 15) was powerfully influential in bringing the almost-lost hesychastic tradition of Orthodox spirituality to Russia in the eighteenth century, and his labors found in Optina Monastery a ‘headquarters’ from which they spread throughout the Russian land. The monastery itself had been in existence since at least the sixteenth century, but had fallen into decay through the anti-monastic policies of Catherine II and other modernizing rulers. Around 1790, Metropolitan Platon of Moscow undertook a mission to restore and revive the monastery in the tradition set forth by St Paisius. By the early 1800s the monastery (located about 80 miles from Moscow) had become a beacon of Orthodox spirituality, partly through their publication of Orthodox spiritual texts, but more importantly through the lineage of divinely-enlightened spiritual fathers (startsi, plural of starets) who served as guides to those, noble and peasant, who flocked to the monastery for their holy counsel. The fathers aroused some controversy in their own day; a few critics (some of them from other monasteries) disapproved of their allowing the Jesus Prayer to become widely-known among the people, fearing that it would give rise to spiritual delusion (prelest). For a wonderful depiction of the deep influence of the Jesus Prayer on Russian life during this period, read the anonymously-written Way of a Pilgrim. |
| Father Anatoly, by his stooped outward appearance, his manner of coming out to the people in a black half-mantle, and his intense joyfully-loving and humble attitude towards people, reminded one of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Archpriest Sergei Chetverikov Batiushka Anatoly was remarkably simple and good. All who came to him experienced the happiness of being as if caught under a golden, grace-filled rain. Merely approaching this elder already gave him a sort of miraculous opportunity for purification and consolation. Archimandrite Boris (Holchev) August 12 is the commemoration day of Venerable Anatoly (Potapov), one of the last of the Optina elders. In contrast to the preceding Optina saints, there was no one left to compose the life of this elder after the Revolution. There remained only fragmented memories of pilgrims, notes of spiritual children, and letters of the elder, in which biographical details were often lacking, but in which his image rises up brightly and vividly. We honor the memory of the elder and reminisce with these recollections. Venerable Anatoly, like Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, perfectly fulfilled the commandment of God to honor one’s parents, putting aside his desire to enter a monastery until after the death of his mother. The future elder, named Alexander before the tonsure, entered Optina Monastery on February 15, 1885--his thirtieth birthday. He was appointed to live in the skete [of St. John the Forerunner] as a cell-attendant of Elder Ambrose, together with monk Nektary, who would also later become an elder. Novice Alexander witnessed the great elder Ambrose’s spiritual labors and the last years of his prophetic ministry, when “all of Russia” streamed to his humble abode in the skete. As a candle is lit from another candle, Father Anatoly received from the great elder the grace of eldership. While still his cell-attendant, the novice was already displaying the grace-filled gifts of clairvoyance and love. Archpriest Sergei Chetverikov, one of the chroniclers of Optina, recalled: “While still in the rank of hierodeacon, in 1905, he was already attracting the notice and hearts of pilgrims by his loving attention to their sorrows and laments. |
| The Interrogation Before Death Lasted 16 Days and Nights Memories of Nun-Martyr Augusta (Zaschuk; 1871-1938) Olga Rozhneva Nun-Martyr Augusta (Zaschuk) Photograph before her death The year was 1938, and in the bitter cold of January the aged schema-nun Augusta (Zaschuk) awaited her fate in a cold room. The sentence of the special troika of the NKVD was announced on Christmas Eve, and the hours before the execution of 20 priests, nuns, and laypeople were numbered. In Matushka Augusta’s last photograph we see before us a kind, tired face, wise eyes, and in her whole countenance—peace of soul, firmness, and the calmness of a nun who is confident in God’s Providence for her. Before death a person often recalls his whole past life and reflects on it. This nun’s life was out of the ordinary. The future nun-martyr Augusta (in the world, Lydia Vasilievna Zaschuk) was born in St. Petersburg. Her father was a privy-councilor, of the nobility; her mother was from a staff-captain’s family. Lydia graduated from the famous Smolny Institute; she knew several foreign languages and possessed literary gifts. After her wedding to a young, brilliantly-educated officer, it seemed that a happy family life awaited her. But happiness, unfortunately, didn’t happen. There were no children from the marriage, and the hardships and sufferings of ten years of being married became lessons in humility and patient endurance for the future nun. Lydia also visited abroad. She returned to Russia and worked as a clerk and translator at the Admiralty Shipyard in Petersburg, while in 1917 she gave out licenses in the City Council (Duma) of what had now become Petrograd. Lydia wrote in a letter about this time: “The revolution took away my means, and I was glad of this, since otherwise I would not have known the Lord’s closeness to a person.” After the revolution the Lord brought Lydia Vasilievna to Optina Hermitage, where she finally found what she had long sought—faith. She felt the grace of the renowned monastery. She came to know the Optina Elders closely: St. Nectarius and Hieromonk Nikon (Belyaev), the future monk-martyr. |
| Metropolitan Hilarion sends message of greetings to participants in 21st International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality admin 06 September 2013 On 4 September 2013, the 21 st International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality on the theme “the Ages of the Spiritual Life” began its work in the Monastery of Bose, Italy. Taking part in the symposium are official delegations of Local Orthodox Churches, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant communities, as well as prominent scholars and theologians. The delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church is led by Bishop Konstantin of Zaraisk, rector of the Kolomna Theological Seminary. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, sent a message of greetings to the organizers and participants of the conference. The text of the message is given below. Esteemed Father Enzo Bianchi, Dear Participants in the Conference: On behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, I cordially greet all the participants in the 21 st International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality, organized by the Monastic Community of Bose and dedicated to the theme “The Ages of the Spiritual Life”. The notion of spiritual growth implying that a person goes through various stages in his self-improvement, appeared already in the works of the most ancient Christian writers. We can find this notion in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers, St John Chrysostom and St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan. It became the cornerstone in the spiritual heritage of Evagrius of Pontus ad St John Cassian the Roman. In the 7 th century, St John of the Ladder systemized the idea of various ages of spiritual life, which he regarded as stages of gradual ascension to God through cutting off passions and gaining inner peace and true love. The experience described in the “the Ladder of Divine Ascent” became fundamental for Russian monasticism and gained a new momentum in the 18 th century thanks to St Paisius Velichkovsky and translators of the “Philokalia”. We can find this idea in the “Candid Narratives of a Pilgrim”, as well as in the ascetic feat of Optina Elders. |
| Tweet Нравится Patriarch Kirill to serve funeral of Elder Kirill (Pavlov) who “exuded love” on Feb. 23 Moscow, February 21, 2017 Photo: forum.optina.ru Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will serve the funeral of one of the most famous and beloved elders of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), on Thursday, February 23, reports RIA-Novosti . The funeral will take place at the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra where Fr. Kirill became a monk on August 25, 1954 and labored for many decades. The confessor of the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra and of Patriarchs Alexei I, Pimen, and Alexei II reposed on Monday evening in the Moscow suburb of Peredelkino in his ninety-eighth year. His funeral will take place in the lavra’s Dormition Cathedral after a late Liturgy. Prayers are being offered for the repose of his soul today in all the churches of the monastery. Photo: Pravoslavie.Ru Archimandrite Kirill (in the world Ivan Dmitrievich Pavlov) commanded a platoon in the defense of Stalingrad in the Second World War, participated in the battles near Lake Balaton in Hungary, and ended the war in Austria. He is sometimes identified with the famous Sergeant Pavlov who participated in the battle of Stalingrad. The elder himself rarely mentioned anything of his life from before taking his vows. Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyanskii, the former head of the patriarchal press service, offered some reflections and recollections of Elder Kirill, whom he personally knew. “His fate is very illustrative of our history—the history of the state and the history of the Church. The war was a turning point that pushed him towards faith, to the desire to serve the heavenly Fatherland,” Fr. Vladimir said. He noted that Fr. Kirill showed up at the Lavra to enter seminary in his military garb, as he had no other clothes. It was at the lavra that Fr. Vladimir met Fr. Kirill, who was appointed as confessor and had the obedience of treasurer. “He was a wonderful confessor, because he saw in man the possibility of spiritual action, which each man has in different measure,” the priest said. He never burdened anyone with that which he wasn’t willing to do himself. “He advised a gradual ascent, knowing the extent of what man can do for himself, not imposing the impossible.” |
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