Fathers of 7th Council / Optina Elders

Today is a great day in the celebration of the Church… for today we commemorate the holy fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, and we also commemorate the God-bearing Elders of Optina Monastery.

Let us speak first about the holy fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. As most of you know, in the early centuries of the Church there were a number of councils in which bishops from all of the Orthodox world met to pray, discuss, and discern the truth regarding topics which were of concern to the Church. The Orthodox Church recognizes seven Ecumenical (meaning ‘universal’) councils which helped to rightly define the word of truth.

In the 8th century there was controversy over the veneration of icons… Much of this was a result of the influence of the rise of Islam, but there were those even within the Christian world who took the position that the veneration of icons was idolatry.

The victory of the Seventh Ecumenical Council in its defense of the icons was not simply an issue of defending Christian art or negating accusations against idolatry, it was a triumph and endorsement of the Christian understanding of matter… that God’s grace transforms our whole being – both body and soul.

That transformation of body and soul was demonstrated clearly in the holy monastery of Optina – where a whole line of saintly men shone forth, providing consolation and hope for all Orthodox Christians.

Optina was referred to as the ‘grace-filled holy little corner of Russia’ and it was a place of great consolation and guidance for many. Nikolai Gogol wrote the following after his first visit to Optina: ‘I have never seen such monks anywhere; with every one of them, it appeared to me, converses everything heavenly. I did not ask them how they live, because their faces speak for themselves. The simplest brothers struck me with their bright angelic kindness, their simplicity of manners, their radiance. Even the workers in the monastery, the peasants and the inhabitants of the neighborhood, struck me in the same way. Several miles prior to reaching the monastery, one senses this spiritual fragrance: everything becomes friendlier, the boughs of the trees are lower, and the attention to a human being much deeper. You should by all means try to visit this monastery.’ 

The exact dates of the beginning of Optina monastery are not well known, but in the early decades of the 19th century there was a great flowering and revival there. The brother-monks who were sent to rebuild the monastery, Fathers Moses and Anthony, had been brought up in the Orthodox faith under the direction of the followers of the great saint Paisius Velichkovsky. St Paisius was responsible for translating a number of patristic texts and reinvigorating traditional Orthodox spirituality and monasticism. His influence was great and spread from spiritual father to spiritual child over many generations. Fathers Moses and Anthony were recipients of that spirit of piety and fidelity to tradition and they set that tone for the revival of Optina monastery.

From Elders Moses and Anthony came a whole sequence of blessed men who took on the role of elder for the monastic community and for all those who would come to seek their counsel. The simple and charismatic Elder Leonid, the learned and humble Elder Macarius, the renowned Elder Ambrose and his meek successor Elder Joseph… This lineage of sanctity and guidance continued throughout the 19th century and even into the 20th century with such greats as the Elders Hilarion, Isaac, Anatoly, Barsanuphrius, and others. As the clock turned and the terrible times of the 20th century and the Bolshevik persecutions began to take place – there still remained those holy ones who took the spiritual baton from those who preceded them.

One of the last Elders of Optina was Elder Nektary… it was under his spiritual care that some of the bishops of our Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia were formed. Archbishop Andrew of Novo-Divyevo in New York was at Elder Nektary’s bedside when he reposed. And here in California, many of us remember the saintly Bishop Nektary Kontzevitch of Seattle. As a boy, his mother would take him frequently to Optina – where he absorbed that spiritual atmosphere and later embodied it in his wisdom and gentleness as a bishop. We also remember his sister-in-law Helen Kontzevitch, who was a dedicated disciple of the last Optina elders.

Archbishop Andrew, Bishop Nektary, and Helen generously carried forward that spirit of piety and holiness which Optina bestowed upon them. They shared stories of their experiences in that wonderful place and shared the wisdom of those wonderful elders. The Elders of Optina are our spiritual grandparents and great grandparents as children of the Russian Orthodox Church.

This is a precious legacy, brothers and sisters, which has been given to us by our forebears. We have been given something priceless and it is incumbent upon us to avail ourselves of that spiritual legacy and plug ourselves into it.

How do we do that? The lives of the Optina Elders have been published and they are absolutely worth reading - we should know their lives and their teachings. But equally important, we must enter into that ‘spirit of Optina’ through loving and living the life of the Church. We must make every effort to pray each day, to attend Church services, to confess and commune frequently, to be aware of the Church calendar – the daily scripture readings, what saints are being celebrated, what feasts are being observed. And in doing so, what is this ‘spirit and legacy of Optina’ that we should hope to emulate?

It is the spirit of humility and love for God. It is a spirit of simplicity and piety which pure-heartedly looks upon God’s creation with gratitude and love. It is the spirit of understanding that the present age is not the pinnacle of mankind… that the past, that our forbearers in the faith, who have proven their worth by the sanctity of their lives, have something to teach us. It is an understanding that our Orthodox faith is something living, something transmitted from generation to generation, from person to person - through prayer, life in the Church, and through the generosity and kindness of Christian love.

What an antidote this is to the stressful confusion and complications of our time!

Through the prayers of the Holy Elders of Optina and of our spiritual forefathers in the faith, may God grant us that spirit of humility, simplicity, piety, and love for God – that we may receive that ‘baton of faith’ handed down to us, understanding how precious it is and doing our utmost to preserve it and live it, that we may pass it on to our children and to those who will come after us.