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mw-list-item"><a href="https://bar.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starez" title="Starez – Bavarian" lang="bar" hreflang="bar" data-title="Starez" data-language-autonym="Boarisch" data-language-local-name="Bavarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Boarisch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starets" title="Starets – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Starets" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starec_(mnich)" title="Starec (mnich) – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Starec (mnich)" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starez" title="Starez – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Starez" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A1rets" title="Stárets – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Stárets" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starets" title="Starets – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Starets" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starec" title="Starec – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Starec" 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.IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}</style><span class="IPA-label IPA-label-small">IPA:</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="ru-Latn-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Russian" title="Help:IPA/Russian">[ˈstarʲɪt͡s]</a></span>; fem. <span title="Russian-language text"><span lang="ru">ста́рица</span></span>, <i>staritsa</i>) is an elder of an <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church" title="Eastern Orthodox Church">Eastern Orthodox</a> or <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches" title="Eastern Catholic Churches">Eastern Catholic</a> monastery or convent who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. <i>Elders</i> or <i>spiritual fathers</i> are charismatic spiritual leaders whose wisdom stems from God as obtained from ascetic experience. It is believed that through <a href="/wiki/Asceticism" title="Asceticism">ascetic struggle</a>, prayer and <a href="/wiki/Hesychasm" title="Hesychasm">hesychasm</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Holy_Spirit" title="Holy Spirit">Holy Spirit</a> bestows special gifts onto the elder including the ability to <a href="/wiki/Faith_healing" title="Faith healing">heal</a>, <a href="/wiki/Prophet" title="Prophet">prophesy</a>, and most importantly, give effective spiritual guidance and direction. Elders are looked upon as being an inspiration to believers and an example of saintly virtue, steadfast faith, and spiritual peace. </p><p>Elders are not appointed by any authority; they are simply recognized by the faithful as being people "of the Spirit". An elder, when not in prayer or in voluntary seclusion, receives visitors (some who travel very far) and spends time conversing with them, offering a blessing (if the elder is an <a href="/wiki/Ordination" title="Ordination">ordained</a> cleric) and confession, and praying. People often petition the elder for intercessionary prayers, believing that the prayer of an elder is particularly effective. </p><p>Personal <a href="/wiki/Confession_(religion)" title="Confession (religion)">confessions</a> to elders are encouraged, although not all of them are ordained to the <a href="/wiki/Priest" title="Priest">priesthood</a>. Many of them have a reputation among believers of being able to know the secrets of a person's heart without having ever previously met the visitor, and having the ability to discern God's plan for a person's life. This, as all of the elder's gifts, is believed to come from the <a href="/wiki/Holy_Spirit" title="Holy Spirit">Holy Spirit</a> acting through the elder. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Derivation,_history_and_application"><span id="Derivation.2C_history_and_application"></span>Derivation, history and application</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Starets&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Derivation, history and application"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Amphilohij.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Amphilohij.jpg/220px-Amphilohij.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="255" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Amphilohij.jpg/330px-Amphilohij.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Amphilohij.jpg/440px-Amphilohij.jpg 2x" data-file-width="472" data-file-height="547" /></a><figcaption>Hieromonk Amphilochius (1749-1824)</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Xenia_romanova3.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Xenia_romanova3.jpg/220px-Xenia_romanova3.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="293" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Xenia_romanova3.jpg/330px-Xenia_romanova3.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Xenia_romanova3.jpg/440px-Xenia_romanova3.jpg 2x" data-file-width="768" data-file-height="1024" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Xenia_Shestova" title="Xenia Shestova">Martha Shestova</a> (1560–1631)</figcaption></figure> <p>The institution may be traced to the beginnings of Christian monasticism in the 4th century. The original Greek term <i>geron</i> (meaning "elder", as in <i><a href="/wiki/Gerontology" title="Gerontology">gerontology</a></i>) was rendered by the <a href="/wiki/Russian_language" title="Russian language">Russian</a> word <i>starets</i>, from <a href="/wiki/Old_Church_Slavonic" title="Old Church Slavonic">Old Church Slavonic</a> <i>starĭtsĭ</i>, "elder", derived from <i>starŭ</i>, "old". The Greek tradition has a long unbroken history of elders and disciples, such as <a href="/wiki/Sophronius_of_Jerusalem" title="Sophronius of Jerusalem">Sophronius</a> and <a href="/wiki/John_Moschos" class="mw-redirect" title="John Moschos">John Moschos</a> in the seventh century, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Symeon_the_Elder&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Symeon the Elder (page does not exist)">Symeon the Elder</a> and <a href="/wiki/Symeon_the_New_Theologian" title="Symeon the New Theologian">Symeon the New Theologian</a> in the eleventh century, and contemporary charismatic <i>gerontes</i> such as <a href="/wiki/Porphyrios_(Bairaktaris)_of_Kafsokalivia" class="mw-redirect" title="Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kafsokalivia">Porphyrios</a> and <a href="/wiki/Elder_Paisios_of_Mount_Athos" class="mw-redirect" title="Elder Paisios of Mount Athos">Paisios</a>. <a href="/wiki/Sergius_of_Radonezh" title="Sergius of Radonezh">Sergius of Radonezh</a> and <a href="/wiki/Nil_Sorsky" class="mw-redirect" title="Nil Sorsky">Nil Sorsky</a> were two most venerated <i>startsy</i> of Old <a href="/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Moscow" class="mw-redirect" title="Grand Duchy of Moscow">Muscovy</a>. The revival of elders in the Slavic world is associated with the name of <a href="/wiki/Paisius_Velichkovsky" title="Paisius Velichkovsky">Paisius Velichkovsky</a> (1722–1794), who produced the <a href="/wiki/Church_Slavonic" title="Church Slavonic">Church Slavonic</a> translation of selected texts of the <i><a href="/wiki/Philokalia" title="Philokalia">Philokalia</a></i>. The most famous Russian <i>starets</i> of the early 19th century was <a href="/wiki/Seraphim_of_Sarov" title="Seraphim of Sarov">Seraphim of Sarov</a> (1759–1833), who went on to become one of the most revered Orthodox saints. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Optina_Pustyn" class="mw-redirect" title="Optina Pustyn">Optina Pustyn</a> near <a href="/wiki/Kozelsk" title="Kozelsk">Kozelsk</a> used to be celebrated for its <i>startsy</i> (Schema-Archimandrite Moses, Schema-Hegumen Anthony, <a href="/wiki/Lev_of_Optina" title="Lev of Optina">Hieroschemamonk Leonid</a>, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Macarius_of_Optina&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Macarius of Optina (page does not exist)">Hieroschemamonk Macarius</a>, Hieroschemamonk Hilarion, <a href="/wiki/Ambrose_of_Optina" title="Ambrose of Optina">Hieroschemamonk Ambrose</a>, Hieroschemamonk Anatole (Zertsalov)).<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Such writers as <a href="/wiki/Nikolay_Gogol" class="mw-redirect" title="Nikolay Gogol">Nikolay Gogol</a>, <a href="/wiki/Aleksey_Khomyakov" title="Aleksey Khomyakov">Aleksey Khomyakov</a>, <a href="/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy" title="Leo Tolstoy">Leo Tolstoy</a> and <a href="/wiki/Konstantin_Leontyev" class="mw-redirect" title="Konstantin Leontyev">Konstantin Leontyev</a> sought advice from the elders of this monastery. They also inspired the figure of Zosima in <a href="/wiki/Dostoyevsky" class="mw-redirect" title="Dostoyevsky">Dostoyevsky</a>'s novel <i><a href="/wiki/The_Brothers_Karamazov" title="The Brothers Karamazov">The Brothers Karamazov</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin" title="Grigori Rasputin">Grigori Rasputin</a> was styled <i>starets</i> by his followers, although he was not generally recognised as one. A more modern example of a <i>starets</i> is Archimandrite <a href="/wiki/John_Krestiankin" title="John Krestiankin">John Krestiankin</a> (1910–2006) of the <a href="/wiki/Pskov_Monastery_of_the_Caves" class="mw-redirect" title="Pskov Monastery of the Caves">Pskov Monastery of the Caves</a> who was popularly recognized as such by many Orthodox living in Russia. </p><p>The concept of the elder may be familiar to many Western readers through <a href="/wiki/J._D._Salinger" title="J. D. Salinger">J. D. Salinger</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Franny_and_Zooey" title="Franny and Zooey">Franny and Zooey</a></i>. In the novel, one of the characters refers to the 19th century <a href="/wiki/Anonymous_work" title="Anonymous work">anonymous</a> <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russian</a> work, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Way_of_a_Pilgrim" title="The Way of a Pilgrim">The Way of a Pilgrim</a></i>. The title character of <i>The Way of a Pilgrim</i> (ostensibly, the author) is advised in the progress of his spiritual life by an elder, who uses the <a href="/wiki/Jesus_Prayer" title="Jesus Prayer">Jesus Prayer</a> as a starting point for spiritual discipline. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Other_meanings">Other meanings</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Starets&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Other meanings"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Bulgarian_language" title="Bulgarian language">Bulgarian</a> and several other South Slavic languages the word translates literally to "old man". A word with a meaning closer to the translation in Russian would be <i>stareishina</i> (<a href="/wiki/Bulgarian_language" title="Bulgarian language">Bulgarian</a>: <span lang="bg">старейшина</span>). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_culture">In culture</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Starets&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: In culture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Filmography">Filmography</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Starets&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Filmography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/The_Island_(2006_film)" title="The Island (2006 film)"><i>The Island</i> (2006)</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Starets&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Desert_Fathers" title="Desert Fathers">Desert Fathers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guru" title="Guru">Guru</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hermit" title="Hermit">Hermit</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hesychasm" title="Hesychasm">Hesychasm</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poustinia" class="mw-redirect" title="Poustinia">Poustinia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theosis_(Eastern_Orthodox_theology)" class="mw-redirect" title="Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)">Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theoria" class="mw-redirect" title="Theoria">Theoria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_warfare" title="Spiritual warfare">Spiritual warfare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_direction" title="Spiritual direction">Spiritual direction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ambrose_of_Optina" title="Ambrose of Optina">Ambrose of Optina</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Starets&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://orthochristian.com/65171.html">Optina Elders in English version of Orthodox Portal "Pravoslavie.ru"</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Starets&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.pigizois.net/agglika/What_is_an_Elder.htm">What is an Elder</a></li></ul>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; 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