Staretz

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Staretz (Russ. tr. of Gk., geron, ‘an old man’). A spiritual father in Russian Orthodoxy. The geron was originally a senior monk, priest or lay, to whom other monks (and others) turned for spiritual direction. Famous startsi (pl.), such as Amvrosy of Optina (1812–91), were eagerly sought out. One of Amvrosy's visitors was Dostoevsky, and the staretz Zossima, in Brothers Karamazov, is a partial reminiscence of him.

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