Literature[ | ]
- Reverend Elders of Optina Pustyn: Lives. Miracles. Teachings. - Moscow ; Riga: Blagovest, 1995. - 416 p. — ISBN 5-87310-031-4.
- Glorification of the saints of the Council of Reverend Fathers and Elders who shone in Optina Pustyn: July 26-27, 1996 - Kozelsk: Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn, 1996. - 79 p. — ISBN 5-86594-041-4.
- Tryfon (Turkestan), Met.
Ancient Christian and Optina elders: monograph. - Moscow: Martis, 1997. - 254 p. — ISBN 5-7248-0041-1. - Venerable Elders of Optina: Lives and Instructions. - 2nd, correct. and additional - M.: Svyato-Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn, 2002. - 512 p. — 10,000 copies.
- Yakovlev A.I.
The Great Elders of Optina Pustyn: a collection of biographical information. — Moscow: Terra-Kn. club, 2003. - 381 p. — ISBN 5-275-00815-5. - Ordina O. N.
The phenomenon of eldership and its influence on Russian philosophical thought of the 19th century; Phil. St. Petersburg Institute of Foreign Economics. connections, economics and law in Kirov. - Kirov; St. Petersburg: Garuda, 2007. - 116 p. — 600 copies. — ISBN 978-5-7320-0991-0. - Optina elders: instructions, letters, diaries. - Moscow: Lepta Book, 2009. - 813 p. — (The Path of Holiness; issue 11). — 5000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-91173-142-7. — ISBN 978-5-9937-0035-9.
- Optina elders. Source of bright joy / author-compiler I. Bulgakova. — Moscow: Eksmo, 2022. — 317 p. - (Joy and hope for the soul). — 3000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-04-107570-5
Revelations of Father Ambrose
The trustee of many monasteries, the ascetic Father Ambrose, also warned about the coming of the Antichrist. He urged people not to be afraid to denounce and point out the wicked. The Antichrist will bring with him wars that will leave no one alive. Before this, God will send diseases to the earth in order to take all the weak to another world. Then the Third World War will begin, which only the strongest and most worthy of being saved will survive. But there will be few of them.
Spiritual instructions of St. Nikon of Optina
The “Teaching of Hieromonk Nikon”, recorded by him for posterity, has been preserved. The Optina elder bequeathed to believers to read the Holy Gospel and teach God’s commandments. The teachings of Christ, according to the priest, should become a reference book for any Christian. Each of your actions must be checked against the commandments from the Gospel.
The main character trait of any Christian should be humility. A person is obliged to submit to the will of God, to meekly accept everything that is prepared by fate. Christians must live a life full of sorrow, sorrow, and difficulty. Every believer is obliged to bear his cross. A Christian's life in accordance with God's law is only a preparation for entering the Heavenly Kingdom.
Throughout his life, a believer must come to confession with his confessor. A person who regularly confesses cleanses his heart from everything displeasing to God. Believers are able to hear the words of the Lord, but first they need to rid their souls of all evil.
A short list of the elder’s instructions:
- learn the commandments of God and live according to them;
- fight your sinful desires, keep yourself from temptations;
- submit to the will of the Lord;
- love God more than anything else;
- read the works of the holy fathers;
- have the fear of God;
- prepare for sorrow, patience;
- pray correctly;
- regularly repent of sins and confess.
A Christian must believe in God, live in humility, show mercy, forgive neighbors for insults and insults. Believers are obliged to pray to the Savior daily, glorify the Lord, and thank him for life.
History of canonization[ | ]
- 1988 - by decision of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the glorification of St. Ambrose of Optina took place.
- On July 26-27, 1996, thirteen Optina elders were canonized as locally revered saints of the Optina Hermitage with a general cathedral celebration on October 11 (24).
- July 10, 1996 - the relics of St. Ambrose were found along with the relics of six more Optina elders.
- 2000 - by decision of the Council of Bishops, the Optina elders were glorified for church-wide veneration.
Prophecies of Isaac the Second
The last of the abbots of Optina is Father Isaac the Second, who warns his spiritual children about the coming of the Antichrist to our world. This terrible time will be easily recognized by the external splendor of temples and churches. They will be repaired, restored, the domes will be gilded, but they themselves will be closed to ordinary believers. And when they finish decorating the churches, the coronation of the Antichrist will take place.
At a crossroads
As Nikolai grew older, he began to think about serious things; he was concerned with questions about what death, sin, the afterlife of a person, and suffering in hell are. When the time of youth came, he could not find his way in life. “I remember that I often felt dissatisfaction and emptiness even in the games I loved. I didn’t know where to go from high school, what to choose, what branch of science, what corresponding path of life. There was nothing I liked so much that I could give myself over to what I chose. There was a revolution in my life when everything around me was infected with social ideas in our youth circle. At first I seemed to like this mask, which covers the work of the devil, leading to destruction, although I could not combine it with faith in God, in which and about which I did not reflect or give an account...” Although piety reigned in the house situation, but Nicholas did not have deep concepts about faith and the Church. Later, he himself would satisfy the spiritual thirst that he always felt by reading books.
After graduating from high school, Nikolai entered Moscow University, but did not study for long. He recalled: “I managed to study at the university for a little more than six months... After Christmas, my thoughts and aspirations to please God began to be somewhat formulated, and I began to attend the university, albeit daily, but with some purpose... Under the pretext of studying at the university, I left home in the morning. He came to the university and was there until 9 o’clock, and from 9 o’clock he went to the Kazan Cathedral for mass, first stopping on the way to Iverskaya if there were not very many people there. After listening to the liturgy, sometimes even standing on my knees throughout the liturgy, I slowly went home and stopped on the way to the Chapel of the Savior and, having prayed there, headed home without delay. At home, after drinking tea, I sat down to read the Gospel, which I read for more than a month or a month. When the Gospel was read, I began to read the Apostle and “The Path to Salvation” by Bishop Theophan; I sometimes read leaflets and brochures with spiritual content.” Over time, Nikolai began to keep a diary; Elder Barsanuphius would continue to support this habit, considering it very useful to record daily observations of his inner life. Recalling his youth, the elder, in his condition and mood, considered himself entirely among the generation of young people of that era - he noted both the period of passion for social ideas and the formal fulfillment of the duties of a Christian. But from his own words it is clear how the aspiration towards God gradually grew in his soul, how he was drawn to the Church and worship. He himself was especially concerned. Apparently, his upbringing and the influence of his grandfather and mother also had an impact here.
