Elder Barsanuphius of Optina of both the Great Blessing

of both the Great Blessing at Theophany and the Lesser Blessing often used on the 1st of August

Cyprian of Carthage

Gabriel's remarkable ascetic life is revealed through the intimate recollections of his family and friends

which are divided into eight groups of melodies

Elder Barsanuphius of Optina of both the Great BlessingVictor Afanasiev Elder Barsanuphius (18451913), a disciple of Elder Anatole (Zertsalov) and Elder Nektary, was a highly cultured man and a successful colonel before entering the monastic life at a relatively late age. Due to his purity of heart and spiritual sobriety, he was transformed by God into a grace filled Elder virtually overnight. The period before the first World War and the Russian Revolution was a complex one. The world was seething in