Оптинские старцы

Optina elders. Instructions, letters, diaries

"Kohl did not want to be stubborn, to sail on the shaft, do not want to be harsh, go-ka in Sarov. Want to be experienced - Go to Optina," - said in the old Russian people. And for good reason. Optina Hermitage nurtured in their monastery walls a whole galaxy of elders, which differed most valuable spiritual gift - the gift of reasoning. Advice to them were not only common people, but also the intelligentsia - the great Russian writers and public figures: FM Dostoevsky, NV Gogol, LN Tolstoy, KN Leontiev, B.C. Soloviev. Elders, wise spiritual experience, opened the questioner will of God, comforted in severe trials of life, withdrawn from a life of sin and repentance to pay - sometimes severely, and sometimes jokes, rhymes. Advice and guidance of the elders, preserved in letters or said in an interview and written by eyewitnesses, relevant at all times, and especially in our scanty spiritual mentors. Collected in this book teaching - only a small part of the rich treasury of Optina.