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Starets
A starets (russian: стáрец, p=ˈstarʲɪt͡s; fem. ) is an elder of an Eastern Orthodox monastery who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. ''Elders'' or ''spiritual fathers'' are charismatic spiritual leaders whose wisdom stems from God as obtained from ascetic experience. It is believed that through ascetic struggle, prayer and hesychasm, the Holy Spirit bestows special gifts onto the elder including the ability to heal, prophesy, and most importantly, give effective spiritual guidance and direction. Elders are looked upon as being an inspiration to believers and an example of saintly virtue, steadfast faith, and spiritual peace. Elders are not appointed by any authority; they are simply recognized by the faithful as being people "of the Spirit". An elder, when not in prayer or in voluntary seclusion, receives visitors (some who travel very far) and spends time conversing with them, offering a blessing (if the elder is an ordained cleric) and confession, and prayin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambrose Of Optina
Saint Ambrose of Optina (russian: link=no, Амвросий Оптинский; birth name: Aleksander Mikhaylovich Grenkov, russian: link=no, Александр Михайлович Гренков, December 5, 1812, Bolshaya Lipovitsa settlement, Tambov guberniya – October 23, 1891) was a ''starets'' and a hieroschemamonk in Optina Monastery, canonized in the 1988 convention of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Biography Aleksandr was born in the family of sexton Mikhail Fyodorovich Grenkov and Marfa Nikolayevna Grenkova. He was the sixth of eight children. At the age of 12 Aleksandr entered the Tambov clerical school and later the Tambov theological seminary. In 1835, shortly before the graduation, Aleksandr became severely ill and made a vow if he got well to become a monk. He recovered but delayed his decision and became a private teacher in a family of a landlord and later in the Lipetsk clerical school. During summer vacation, Aleksandr met a well-kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 its definitive form in the 14th century at Mount Athos. Etymology Hesychasm ( el, , Modern ) derives from the word '' hesychia'' (, ), meaning "stillness, rest, quiet, silence" and ''hesychazo'' ( ) "to keep stillness". Origins and development Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, a scholar of Eastern Orthodox theology, distinguishes five distinct usages of the term "hesychasm": # "solitary life", a sense, equivalent to "eremitical life", in which the term is used since the 4th century; # "the practice of inner prayer, aiming at union with God on a level beyond images, concepts and language"; # "the quest for such union through the Jesus Prayer"; # "a particular psychosomatic technique in combination with the Jesus Prayer", use of which techni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seraphim Of Sarov
Seraphim of Sarov (russian: Серафим Саровский; – ), born Prókhor Isídorovich Moshnín (Mashnín) �ро́хор Иси́дорович Мошни́н (Машни́н) is one of the most renowned Russian saints and is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is generally considered the greatest of the 18th-century ''startsy'' (elders). Seraphim extended the monastic teachings of contemplation, theoria and self-denial to the layperson. He taught that the purpose of the Christian life was to receive the Holy Spirit. Perhaps his most popular quotation amongst his devotees is "acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved." Seraphim was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1903. Life Born 19 July (O.S.) 1754, Seraphim was baptized with the name of Prochor, after Prochorus, one of the first Seven Deacons of the Early Church and the disciple of John the Evangelist. His parents, Isidore and Agathia Moshnin, lived in Kur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paisius Velichkovsky
Saint Paisius Velichkovsky or Wieliczkowski (''Paisie de la Neamţ'' in Romanian; Паисий Величковский in Russian; Паїсій Величковський in Ukrainian; 20 December 1722 – 15 November 1794) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and theologian who helped spread staretsdom or the concept of the spiritual elder to the Slavic world. Also accessible ahttp://sophiainstitutenyc.org. He is a pivotal figure in Orthodox Church history. Life A Ukrainian by birth, Pyotr Velichkovsky was born on December 21, 1722, in Poltava, where his father, Ivan, was a priest in the city cathedral. He was the eleventh of twelve children. His grandfather was the poet Ivan Velichkovsky. In 1735, he was sent to study at the Kiev Theological Academy. In 1741, he became a rasophore monk, taking the name of “Platon”. However, his monastery was soon closed, because of the political stresses during the time, and he entered the Pechersky Lavra at Kiev. Here he was influenced by the mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elder Paisios Of Mount Athos
Saint Paisios of Mount Athos ( el, Ὅσιος Παΐσιος ὁ Ἁγιορείτης, ; secular name: Arsenios Eznepidis ( el, Αρσένιος Εζνεπίδης); 1924–1994), was a well-known Greek Eastern Orthodox ascetic from Mount Athos, originally from Pharasa, Cappadocia. He was respected for his spiritual guidance and ascetic life. Today, he is widely venerated by Eastern Orthodox Christians, particularly in Greece, Cyprus and in Russia.Hieromonk Damascene. Elder Paisios the New of Mount Athos (Part 1)'' Orthodoxy and the World (Pravmir.com). 25 March 2005, 01:00. Venerable Elder Paisios was canonized on 13 January 2015 by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the church commemorates his feast day on June 29 S/ July 12 [NS">S.html" ;"title="S/ July 12 [NS">S/ July 12 [NS The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided at its meeting of 5 May 2015 also to add the name of the Venerable Paisios of Mount Athos to the Menology of the Russian Ort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lev Of Optina
Hieroschemamonk Leonid (Nagolkin) of Optina, also Leo (or Lev) of Optina, was a venerable elder of Optina Monastery and a founder of Optina's eldership. Life The future St. Leonid was born Lev Danilovich Nagolkin in Karachev in the Orlov Province in 1768 of a family of ordinary parents. He worked for a merchant during his early years, making frequent trips as part of his employer's business, thus he gained experience dealing with different people. As a mature young man, Leo decided to enter a monastic life. In 1797, Leo entered Optina Monastery as it was being reborn. After two years he left to enter White Bluff monastery in the Orlov eparchy, where Hieromonk Basil (Kiskin) was igumen. Under Fr. Basil, Leo underwent training in monastic virtues of obedience, patience, and various external endeavors. In 1801, Fr. Basil tonsured Leo a monk giving him the name Leonid. Later in the year Fr. Leonid was ordained a deacon on December 22 and then a priest on December 24. Earnestly fulfi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optina Pustyn
The Optina Pustyn (russian: Óптина пýстынь, literally ''Opta's hermitage'') is an Eastern Orthodox monastery for men near Kozelsk in Russia. In the 19th century, the Optina was the most important spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church and served as the model for several other monasteries, including the nearby Shamordino Convent. It was particularly renowned as the centre of Russian Orthodox eldership (staretsdom). History It is not clear when the monastery was established. Its name is probably derived from the Russian word for "living together", possibly because nuns were allowed into the cloister prior to 1504. Most of the monastery buildings were erected at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, when the monastery was being renovated as a centre of Russian staretsdom. In 1821, a hermitage for startsy was established away from the monastery. The startsy attracted crowds of devout Christians to Kozelsk. Among others, Optina Pustyn was visited by Fyodo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sergius Of Radonezh
Sergius of Radonezh (russian: Се́ргий Ра́донежский, ''Sergii Radonezhsky''; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392), also known as Sergiy Radonezhsky, Serge of Radonezh and Sergius of Moscow, was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer of medieval Russia. Together with Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints. Early life The date of his birth is unclear: it could be 1314, 1319, or 1322. His medieval biography states that he was born to Kiril and Maria, a boyar family, near Rostov (Yaroslavl Oblast), on the spot where now stands. The narrative of Epiphanius does not specify the exact birthplace of the monk, stating only that before the migration from Rostov principality the monk's family lived "in a village in the area, which is within the Rostov principality, not very close to the city of Rostov". It is considered that it is the village Varnitsa (russian: Варница) near Rostov. Sergius received the baptis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symeon The New Theologian
Symeon the New Theologian ( el, Συμεὼν ὁ Νέος Θεολόγος; 949–1022) was an Eastern Orthodox Christian monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and given the title of "Theologian" (along with John the Apostle and Gregory of Nazianzus). "Theologian" was not applied to Symeon in the modern academic sense of theological study; the title was designed only to recognize someone who spoke from personal experience of the vision of God. One of his principal teachings was that humans could and should experience '' theoria'' (literally "contemplation," or direct experience of God). Symeon was born into the Byzantine nobility and given a traditional education. At age fourteen he met Symeon the Studite, a renowned monk of the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople, who convinced him to give his own life to prayer and asceticism under the elder Symeon's guidance. By the time he was thirty, Symeon the New Theologian beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macarius Of Optina
Macarius is a Latinized form of the old Greek given name Makários (Μακάριος), meaning "happy, fortunate, blessed"; confer the Latin '' beatus'' and ''felix''. Ancient Greeks applied the epithet ''Makarios'' to the gods. In other languages the name has the following forms: *Finnish: the given name Kari or Karri. Derived surname: Mäkäräinen. *Greek: Makarios (Μακάριος) *Italian: Macario, which is also a family name *Portuguese: Macário * Spanish Macarena (name) *Russian/Ukrainian/Belarusian: Makar (Макар) from Church Slavonic Makariy (Макарій). Derived surnames: Makarov/Makarova, Makarenko, Makarchuk, Makarevich. *Serbian: Makarije/Макарије *Romanian: Macarescu (surname) *French: Macaire People named Macarius *Macarius of Alexandria, a martyr, saint, and companion of Faustus, Abibus and Dionysius of Alexandria *Macarius of Egypt (300–390), Egyptian monk and hermit. Also known as Pseudo-Macarius, Macarius-Symeon, Macarius the Elder, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kozelsk
Kozelsk (russian: Козе́льск) is a town and the administrative center of Kozelsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Zhizdra River (Oka's tributary), southwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was first mentioned in an 1146 chronicle as a part of Principality of Chernigov. Kozelsk became famous in the spring of 1238, when its twelve-year-old prince Vasily, son of Titus, had to defend the town against the army of Batu Khan. The latter dubbed it an "evil town" because its citizens had been fighting the attackers for seven weeks in a row, killing around four thousand enemy soldiers during the siege. The citizens of Kozelsk were greatly outnumbered and almost all of them died in battle. In 1446, Kozelsk was temporarily under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1494, the town was finally annexed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In 1607, one of Ivan Bolotnikov's units was located in Kozelsk and showed resist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church. They were originally written for the guidance and instruction of monks in "the practice of the contemplative life". The collection was compiled in the 18th century by Nicodemus the Hagiorite and Macarius of Corinth based on the codices 472 (12th century), 605 (13th century), 476 (14th century), 628 (14th century) and 629 (15th century) from the library of the monastery of Vatopedi, Mount Athos. Although these works were individually known in the monastic culture of Greek Orthodox Christianity before their inclusion in the ''Philokalia'', their presence in this collection resulted in a much wider readership due to its translation into several languages. The earliest translations included a Church S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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