My Visit to Elder Nektary of Optina in 1918 (Archpriest Sergius Shchukin)

My Visit to Elder Nektary in 1918 

By Archpriest Sergius Shchukin

For the first time I heard about the existence of the Optina elders while I was a student in Moscow. There I became acquainted with young people from a very believing and pious family D. from the city of Kozlov. Two of the brothers and two sisters were studying in Moscow, and one of the brothers was my fellow student. From them I learned that all of them — eight brothers and sisters — were spiritual children of Elder Anatoly of Optina, visited him almost every year, and did nothing without his blessing. They strongly advised me to visit the Optina Hermitage, but the circumstances of student life somehow always prevented me from carrying out this trip. Studies at a special technical educational institution required a great deal of time, and during vacations I always went either home or to student practice. And only after completing the course, already under the Bolsheviks, did circumstances allow me to get to Optina.

In the summer of 1918, when all Russian life had already been shaken to its foundations, before me — as before the whole intelligentsia — stood the question: what to do next? Many categorically refused to enter service in the new Bolshevik institutions, counting on the quick fall of their power. Others awaited foreign intervention and held back. And when private and public institutions were closing, unemployed intellectuals preferred to trade in all sorts of old things or live by selling their belongings rather than enter the service of the Bolsheviks. Finally, such a moment came for me as well, when the institution in which I worked had to close. Of course, having an engineer’s diploma, I could easily find a position, but where exactly? There were many possibilities; my comrades and professors invited me to various newly opening Soviet educational and scientific-technical institutions. But all this somehow attracted me little; I wanted to preserve my inner freedom and strengthen my spiritual life, still so weak and unstable. It was precisely in those days that I began especially to think about the necessity of going to Optina in order to consult with an elder.

Venerable Nektary of Optina (+ 1928)

Venerable Nektary of Optina (Feast Day - April 29)

The last Optina elder elected by the Brotherhood was Venerable Nektary, a disciple of the skete's abbot Venerable Anatoly (Zertsalov) and Venerable Ambrose. He bore the cross of the service of eldership during the years of severe trials for the Russian Orthodox Church and for all of Russia. Elder Nektary spent fifty years in the Optina Hermitage, twenty of which were in seclusion. He ascended the spiritual ladder from seclusion to public service and was a worthy successor to the Optina elders. Endowed by God with the great gift of prophecy and foresight, he saw the coming troubles and sorrows of the people long before the revolution and civil war. Elder Nektary prayed for all of Russia, consoled people, and strengthened their faith. During the years of severe temptations, Venerable Nektary took upon himself the burden of human sins. He shared the fate of many of his believing compatriots: he was persecuted, exiled, and died in exile. Less is known about his life's journey - in connection with the persecution of the Church, the persecution of monasticism - than about his illustrious predecessors.