ABSTRACT
Recapturing the spiritual tradition of Nil Sorskii and drawing on the patterns of spiritual direction originating in Christian antiquity and filtered through the writings and life of Paisii Velichkovskii, the spiritual elders of Optina Pustyn’ flourished in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, inspiring countless Russian laymen and laywomen, and influential government and literary figures with their simplicity and heart-focused spiritual life.
