| Title of the article: |
«The grace of lord is obvious to be there»: Optina Pustyn in Nikolai Gogol’s life |
| Author(s): |
Voropaev V. A. |
| Section: |
Philology |
| Year: |
2016 |
| Issue: |
№ 3 (41) |
| Pages: |
125-138 |
| Index UDK: |
821.161.1 |
| Index BBK: |
83.3(2Рос=Рус)1-8 Гоголь Н. В. |
| Abstract: |
Gogol’s visits to the Optina Pustyn and acquaintances with the community of the monastery left a deep impression on him: «I have never seen such monks. With every one of them, I seemed, conversed the entire heavenly host» (from the letter to Prince Alexander Tolstoy on July 10, 1850). The article deals with Gogol’s relations with the brethren of the Optina Pustyn: lay brother Peter Gervais, starets Macarius (Ivanov), Hegumen Moses (Putilov), monk Porphyry (Grigorov), Hieroscemamonk Theodotes (Koltsov). We determined the addressee of Gogol’s letter in the Optina Pustyn (from the village of Dolbino, on June 20, 1850), who had been unknown or assigned incorrectly for a long time: «For Christ’s sake, pray for me, Father Philaretes…». It was Hieromonk Philaretes (Theodotes in the schema), a starets of the Optina Pustyn, the confessor of the brethren of the Gethsemane skete of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. The change of his monastic name when taking the schema, made an obstacle to a correct ascription of the letter. In 1916, Sergei Durylin quoted Gogol’s lines and amplified them summing up the spiritual experience of many men: «Gogol expressed what everyone, revived with love and power of Optina Pustyn, would have said; everyone — from Kireyevsky to a weeping countrywoman». |
| Keywords: |
Gogol, Optina Pustyn monastery, monkhood, startsy, spiritual tutorship, writer’s designs. |
| Bibliography: |
1 Istoricheskoe opisanie Kozel’skoi Vvedenskoi Optinoi Pustyni [Historical description of Kozelsk Vvedensk Optina Pustyn]. Izd. 3-e, dop. / Reprintnoe izdanie Sviato-Vvedenskoi Optinoi Pustyni, <1995>. 170 p. (In Russ.) 2 Gogol’ N. V. Poln. sobr. soch. i pisem: v 17 t. [Compelete collection of works and letters in 17 vol.], sost., podgot. tekstov i komment. I. A. Vinogradova, V. A. Voropaeva. Moscow; Kiev, Izd-vo Moskovskoi Patriarkhii Publ., 2009–2010. (In Russ.) 3 Gogol’ v vospominaniiakh, dnevnikakh, perepiske sovremennikov. Polnyi sistematicheskii svod dokumental’nykh svidetel’stv. Nauchno-kriticheskoe izdanie: v 3 t. [Gogol in memories, diaries and letters of contemporaries. Complete systematic collection of documental sources. Research and critical edition in 3 vol.], izd-e podgot. I. A. Vinogradov. Moscow, IMLI RAN Publ., 2011–2013. (In Russ.) 4 Gol’denveizer A. B. Vblizi Tolstogo [Near Tolstoy]. Moscow, Gos. izd-vo khudozh. lit. Publ., 1959. 488 p. (In Russ.) 5 Durylin S. N. Rus’ prikrovennaia: [sbornik] [Covert Russia: collection], sost. i avtor vstup. stat’i S. Fomin. Moscow, Palomnik Publ., 2000. 335 p. (In Russ.) 6 Zapal’skii G. M. Optina Pustyn’ i ee vospitanniki v 1825–1917 godakh [Optina Pustyn and its novices]. Moscow, Rukopisnye pamiatniki Drevnei Rusi Publ., 2009. 416 p. (In Russ.) 7 Zakharchenko S. O. Chudo u moshchei Spiridona Trimifuntskogo [Marvel at the relics of Spiridon Trimifuntsky]. XI Gogolіvs’kі chitannia: zb. naukovikh prats’ Mіzhnarodnoï naukovoï praktichn. konferentsiï (Poltava, 1 3 kvіt. 2013 r.) [XI Gogol readings: collection of papers of international research conference (Poltava, 1-3 April, 2013]. Poltavs’kii natsіonal’nii ped. un-t іm. V. G. Korolenka. Poltava, 2013, pp. 136–139. (In Russ.) 8 Ivan Vasil’evich Kireevskii. Razum na puti k Istine. Filosofskie stat’i, publitsistika, pis’ma [Ivan Vasilievich Kireesky. Mind on the path to the Truth. Philosophical papers, publicism, letters], sost. i vstup. stat’ia N. Lazarevoi; komment. i ukaz. imen L. Kopylova, N. Lazarevoi. Moscow, Pravilo very Publ., 2002. 662 p., il. (In Russ.) 9 Kulish P. A. Zapiski o zhizni Nikolaia Vasil’evicha Gogolia, sostavlennye iz vospominanii ego druzei i znakomykh i iz ego sobstvennykh pisem [Notes on the life of Nikolay Vasilievich Gogol, composed from memories of his friends and acquaintances] vstup. st. i komment. I. A. Vinogradova. Moscow, IMLI RAN Publ., 2003. 704 p. (In Russ.) 10 Letopis’ skita vo imia sviatogo Ioanna Predtechi i Krestitelia Gospodnia, nakhodiashchegosia pri Kozel’skoi Vvedenskoi Optinoi pustyni: v 2 t. [The chronicle of skete after the name of Saint John the Baptist, situated at the Kozelsk vvedensk Optina Pustyn]. Moscow, Sviato-Vvedenskaia Optina Pustyn’ Publ., 2008. Vol. 1 / comp. monakh Mark (Khomich). 704 p., il. (In Russ.) 11 Nilus S. Sviatynia pod spudom. Taina pravoslavnogo monasheskogo dukha [Shrine under the bushel. The secret of Orthodox monastery spirit]. Sergiev Posad, Tip. Troitse Sergievoi lavry Publ., 1911. 232 p. (In Russ.) 12 Podvizhniki blagochestiia Optinoi Pustyni XIX – nachala XX veka. Zhizneopisaniia. Ocherki. Dokumenty [Pious ascetics of Optina Pustyn of XIX-early XX cc. Lives, essays, documents]. Vvedenskii stavropigial’nyi muzhskoi monastyr’ Optina Pustyn’, 2012. 448 p. (In Russ.) 13 A. S. Pushkin v vospominaniiakh sovremennikov: v 2 t. [Pushkin in the memories of contemporaries]. Moscow, Khudozh. lit. Publ., 1985. Vol. 2 / sost., podgot. teksta i komment. V. Vatsuro, M. Gillel’sona, R. Iezuitovoi, Ia. Levkovich. 575 p. (Literaturnye memuary) (In Russ.) 14 Sobranie pisem prepodobnogo Makariia Optinskogo k mirskim osobam: [v 3 t.] [The collection of letters of venerable Macarius of Optyna to worldly people]. Petrozavodsk, Izd-vo Petrozavodskogo gos. un-ta Publ., 2010. Vol. 1: A – I / vstup. stat’ia S. O. Zakharchenko; komment. V. V. Kashirinoi, S. O. Zakharchenko, T. V. Paniukovoi. 878 p. (In Russ.) 15 Sobranie pisem prepodobnogo Makariia Optinskogo k monakham: [v 3 t.] [The collection of letters of venerable Macarius of Optyna to monks], sost. i vstup. stat’i k tekstam pisem S. O. Zakharchenko; komment. S. O. Zakharchenko, T. V. Paniukovoi. Petrozavodsk, Izd-vo Petrozavodskogo gos. un-ta Publ., 2014. (In Russ.) |
| PDF file: |
 Download |
| Illustrations: |
Download |
