Theophan the Recluse
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Theophan the Recluse, also known as Theophan Zatvornik or Theophanes the Recluse (Russian: Святитель Феофан Затворник Вышенский, епископ Тамбовский; January 10, 1815 – January 6, 1894), is a well-known
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
in the
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
.


Early life

Theophan the Recluse, also known as Theophan Zatvornik or Theophanes the Recluse or (in the Library of Congress Name Authority File, and therefore in many library catalogs) as "Ḟeofan, Saint, Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk, 1815–1894", was born on January 10, 1815, as Georgy Vasilievich Govorov (), in the village of Chernavsk, in the
Oryol Governorate Oryol Governorate (russian: Орловская губерния, ''Orlovskaya guberniya'') or the Government of Oryol, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the early Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1 ...
of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. His father was a Russian Orthodox priest. He was educated in the seminaries at
Livny Livny (russian: Ливны, p=ˈlʲivnɨ) is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia. As of 2018, it had a population of 47,221. :ru:Ливны#cite note-2018AA-3 History The town is believed to have originated in 1586 as Ust-Livny, a wooden fort on th ...
,
Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...
and
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
.


Career

In 1841 he was ordained, became a
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
, and adopted the name Theophan. He later became the Bishop of Tambov. He is especially well-known today through the many books he wrote concerning the spiritual life, especially on the subjects of the Christian life and the training of youth in the faith. He also played an important role in translating the ''
Philokalia The ''Philokalia'' ( grc, φιλοκαλία, lit=love of the beautiful, from ''philia'' "love" and ''kallos'' "beauty") is "a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters" of the mystical hesychast trad ...
'' from
Church Slavonic Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
into Russian. The ''Philokalia'' is a classic of Orthodox
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
, composed of the collected works of a number of
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
which were edited and placed in a four volume set in the 17th and 18th centuries. A persistent theme is developing an interior life of continuous prayer, learning to "pray without ceasing" as
St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
teaches in his first letter to the Thessalonians.


Death

Theophan the Recluse died on January 6, 1894, and lay in state for three days in his church. Even after that length of time there was no sign of decay in his unembalmed body. He was buried in the Kazan church of the Vysha Monastery.


''The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned To It''

''The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned To It'' was originally written in response to Theophan's encounter with a young woman. While at a ball, this upper class Moscow woman began having irrational thoughts about the meaning of life and the immortality of man. After contacting Theophan, the two began corresponding through letters, the lady writing on her spiritual difficulties and Theophan responding with spiritual advice. This correspondence had a significant impact on the woman; she later became a nun. The Saint Herman Press, the publisher of the illustrated edition of ''The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned to It'', notes that it was of great importance to Theophan that the young woman should "be able to keenly hear the right 'tone' of spiritual life".


Veneration as a saint

Theophan was
canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church of 1988. The act of canonization declared that his "deep theological understanding of the Christian teaching, as well as its performance in practice, and, as a consequence of this, the loftiness and holiness of the life of the ''sviatitel allow for his writings to be regarded as a development of the teaching of the Holy Fathers, preserving the same Orthodox purity and Divine enlightenment." His
feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
is celebrated January 6 or January 10.


Quotes

* "He who believes in God, but does not confess Him as the Father of the Son, does not believe in a god that is the true God, but in some personal invention." *"You ask, will the heterodox be saved... Why do you worry about them? They have a Saviour Who desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own sins... I will tell you one thing, however: should you, being Orthodox and possessing the Truth in its fullness, betray Orthodoxy, and enter a different faith, you will lose your soul forever." *"Where there is no prayer and fasting there are the demons."


Books in English translation

* }. * * ''Turning the Heart to God'' (Partial translation of ''The Path to Salvation'') * }. * * } * * }. This book consists of excerpts from his "The Path of Salvation"


See also

*
Hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
*
Hesychasm Hesychasm (; Greek: Ησυχασμός) is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in early Christian monasticism, it took it ...
*
Poustinia A hermitage most authentically refers to a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, or a building or settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion. Particularly as a name or part of the name of prop ...
*
Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking u ...
, a Byzantine saint


References


External links


St Theophan the Recluse: The Bishop of Tambov biography (Orthodox Church in America website)What is Prayer? by Theophan the Recluse (Youtube playlist of 5 videos containing the complete English translation of this work.)
at theophan.net
English translation of a letter of Theophan the Recluse to the husband of his sister of 12th of February 1874


{{DEFAULTSORT:Theophan The Recluse Theophanes the Recluse Theophanes the Recluse People from Izmalkovsky District People from Yeletsky Uyezd 19th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Russian theologians Hesychasts 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians Translators of the Philokalia