The Northern Thebaid. Monastic Saints of the Russian North

COMPILED AND TRANSLATED BY FATHERS SERAPHIM (ROSE) AND HERMAN (PODMOSHENSKY) OF PLATINA

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY I. M. KONTZEVITCH

The NORTHERN THEBAID

Monastic Saints of the Russian North

Compiled and translated by Fathers Seraphim and Herman of Platina

FROM the fourth century A.D., the desert Thebaid of Egypt was the home of thousands of monks and nuns who made the desert a city peopled with Christians striving towards the heavens in the Angelic way of life. A thousand years later, no fewer thousands of monks and nuns, likewise seeking communion with God, went to live in the forests of northern Russia, creating what has become known as the "Northern Thebaid."

Just as the sultry African nature with its clear blue sky, lush colors, its burning sun, and its incomparable moonlit nights, is distinct from the aquarelle soft tones of Russia's northern nature with the blue surface of its lakes and the soft shades of its leafy forests in the same way the sanctity of the Saints of the Egyptian desert, elemental and mighty, is distinct from the sanctity of Russia, which is quiet, lofty, and as crystal-clear as the radiant and quiet evening of the Russian spring. But both in Russia and in Egypt there is the same divine prayer, the same interior silence, leading to direct contact with God.

Illustrated with rare pictures from old Russian books and magazines, The Northern Thebaid chronicles the lives of a number of holy men and women of the Russian forests, presenting the Orthodox monastic tradition which inspired them and which is still alive today for those who would follow in their footsteps. This edition is a facsimile of the original edition, which was hand-printed by Fr. Seraphim Rose and his monastic brothers in the mountain forests of Northern California.

Contents

Preface

Preface to the New Edition

Introduction

by Prof. I. M. Kontzevitch

I. The Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh (+1392), Abba of the Northern Thebaid

II. The Life of St. Paul of Obnora (+1429) in the Komel Forests of Vologda

III. The Life of St. Cyril of Belozersk (+1429) or White Lake, in the Heart of the Northern Thebaid

IV. The Life of St. Sabbatius of Solovki (+1435) in the Arctic Waters of the White Sea

V. The Life of St. Nilus of Sora (+1508) and His Skete Tradition

VI. The Life of St. Alexander of Svir (+1533), Blessed Seer of the Holy Trinity

VII. The Life of St. Anthony of Siya (+1556), Desert-Dweller of the Northern Dvina

VIII. The Life of St. Euphrosynus (+1612), Martyr-Confessor of Blue-Jay Lake

IX. The Life of St. Diodorus of George-Hill (+1633) and the Desert-Dwellers of the Utmost North

X. The Life of St. Dorothy of Kashin (+1629) and the Righteous Women of Holy Russia

XI. The Life of St. Nicodemus of Kozha Lake (+1640) Anchorite of the Arctic Tundra

XII. The Life of St. Dalmatus of Siberia (+1697) and the Monastic Exodus into the Siberian Taiga

EPILOGUE: The Eighteenth Century

INDEX

Fr. Herman told me that this book was one of his and Fr. Seraphim's major accomplishments. But only now am I beginning to understand the meaning of these words. I think that all admirers of Fathers of Platina should read this book! It talks about monasticism and missionary work not only in time - in centuries, but also geographically. That is, from St. Sergius to Alaska. The lives of Fathers Herman and Seraphim are a continuation of this path. The path from Makovets to Platina is visible.

-Vyacheslav Marchenko.