05 — The Last Elders
The final generation of Optina elders, who exercised the eldership through the Revolution and into the years of persecution: St. Anatoly “the Younger” (Potapov), the consoler; St. Nektary (Tikhonov), the last of the great elders; and the story of the eldership as the monastery was closed and the elders scattered.
Tradition: Russian Orthodox (Optina synaxis glorified 1996 local / 2000 general)
This section carries the lineage across the catastrophe of 1917–1923. The first file treats the two great elders of the last days: St. Anatoly the Younger (Potapov), called “the consoler” for his tenderness with the crowds who came in the years of war and revolution; and St. Nektary (Tikhonov), the last elder formally chosen by the brotherhood, a hidden man given at times to the ways of a fool-for-Christ, who lived on in exile after the closure. The second file follows the institution itself as it was destroyed — the nationalization and closure of Optina, the dispersal of the monks, and the survival of the eldership in scattered and secret form.
Navigation
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| saint-anatoly-the-younger-and-saint-nektary.md | St. Anatoly “the Younger” (Potapov, the consoler, d. 1922) and St. Nektary (Tikhonov, the last of the great elders, d. 1928) |
| the-eldership-under-persecution.md | The closure of Optina, 1918–1923; the dispersal of the monks and the survival of the eldership |
See Also
- St. Joseph and St. Barsanuphius — the preceding generation
- The Hieromartyrs of Optina — St. Nikon and St. Isaac II, who died under the persecution
- The Closure and the Rebirth — the longer story of Optina’s destruction and revival