(1560–1631) The institution may be traced to the beginnings of Christian monasticism in the 4th century. The original Greek term
geron (meaning "elder", as in
gerontology) was rendered by the
Russian word
starets, from
Old Church Slavonic starĭtsĭ, "elder", derived from
starŭ, "old". The Greek tradition has a long unbroken history of elders and disciples, such as
Sophronius and
John Moschos in the seventh century,
Symeon the Elder and
Symeon the New Theologian in the eleventh century, and contemporary charismatic
gerontes such as
Porphyrios and
Paisios.
Sergius of Radonezh and
Nil Sorsky were two most venerated
startsy of Old
Muscovy. The revival of elders in the Slavic world is associated with the name of
Paisius Velichkovsky (17221794), who produced the
Church Slavonic translation of selected texts of the
Philokalia. The most famous Russian
starets of the early 19th century was
Seraphim of Sarov (17591833), who went on to become one of the most revered Orthodox saints. The
Optina Pustyn near
Kozelsk used to be celebrated for its
startsy (Schema-Archimandrite Moses, Schema-Hegumen Anthony,
Hieroschemamonk Leonid,
Hieroschemamonk Macarius, Hieroschemamonk Hilarion,
Hieroschemamonk Ambrose, Hieroschemamonk Anatole (Zertsalov)). Such writers as
Nikolay Gogol,
Aleksey Khomyakov,
Leo Tolstoy and
Konstantin Leontyev sought advice from the elders of this monastery. They also inspired the figure of Zosima in
Dostoyevsky's novel
The Brothers Karamazov.
Grigori Rasputin was styled
starets by his followers, although he was not generally recognised as one. A more modern examples of
starets are Archimandrite
John Krestiankin (1910–2006) of the
Pskov Monastery of the Caves and Schema-Archimandrite
Elias Nozdrin (1932–2025) of the
Optina Monastery who were popularly recognized as such by many Orthodox living in Russia. The concept of the elder may be familiar to many Western readers through
J. D. Salinger's
Franny and Zooey. In the novel, one of the characters refers to the 19th century
anonymous Russian work,
The Way of a Pilgrim. The title character of
The Way of a Pilgrim (ostensibly, the author) is advised in the progress of his spiritual life by an elder, who uses the
Jesus Prayer as a starting point for spiritual discipline. ==Other meanings==