Collection of letters from unpublished

Before you is the book with which we open a new series of publications of the spiritual heritage of St. Theophan the Recluse - “From the Unpublished.” This series will include never published (or never republished after a single publication) works of the saint: his sermons, master's thesis and much more. Unpublished letters from St. Theophan were found in archives and journals of the 19th century. Partially in the preparation of the publications, the appendix to Archimandrite Georgy (Tertyshnikov’s) candidate’s essay “Letters from Bishop Feofan to various persons not included in the VIII edition (Zagorsk. 1973. (Typescript)) was used.” In these letters, new to today’s reader, the personal life of the great Recluse is revealed with particular depth: we see both a caring spiritual father who cares about the salvation of his children, and an enthusiastic worker who does not allow idleness in everyday life. Studies in astronomy and photography, icon painting and wood carving, works on publishing books and music lessons are just a few everyday details of the reclusive life of the saint that readers will learn about. In addition, the letters discuss the most important issues of church and secular history, relationships in the Orthodox East, problems of spiritualism and sectarianism, the existence of living beings on other planets, the essence of Angels, the existence of demons... Just as life is multifaceted, these letters are multifaceted for the attentive reader. In the section “Teaching Letters,” the saint, in the usual epistolary genre, gives a structured answer to the question posed. Of particular interest is the study of the Kyiv Theological Academy, dated 1915, “The Reverend Theophan and Colonel S. A. Pervukhin in their mutual correspondence.” Here the reader is given a unique opportunity to see not only the answers of the saint, but also the letters of the questioner, to feel the style of spiritual leadership of Bishop Theophan, his lack of pressure on his interlocutor, condescension coupled at the same time with severity. The book is provided with detailed content. The publication also includes previously unpublished letters from clergy to St. Theophan. The design of the book uses facsimiles from archives and magazine covers in which the letters were published. Figure 1. Autograph of St. Feofana