The Optina Elders. Stories for Children

"Optina Pustyn” in the 19th–20th centuries was considered a beacon of Russian intellectual life; for peasants and craftsmen, each elder was “like a true father.” The Optina elders were characterized not only by exceptional depth of spiritual life and possession of the gifts of discernment, reasoning—but also by a great love for people, and an endless desire to share spiritual treasures with the world. And if the first Optina elder, Father Leonid (Lev), like the ancient Fathers, lived for a long time in seclusion, then his successors, as if by inheritance, took on the eldership. Many of them were first cell attendants to the elders, then assistants, and finally successors of their spiritual guides".
"]Svetlana Devyatova