Optina Monastery

80 years since Romania’s ‘Burning Bush’ hesychast movement began

The Library of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has marked 80 years since the official launch of the “Burning Bush” spiritual movement at Antim Monastery in Bucharest, commemorating the anniversary in a social media post. In a petition addressed to Patriarch Nicodim and dated 12 February 1946, several Christian lay intellectuals requested…

Feb 19, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

140 years since the birth of Father John the Stranger, a key figure in the Burning Bush hesychast movement

One hundred forty years have passed since the birth of Father John the Stranger, a priest who introduced the Jesus Prayer to the Bucharest-based Burning Bush hesychast movement, as he had learned it from the elders of Optina Monastery. “John the Stranger” is the name by which Father Ioann Kulygin, born on February 24, 1885,…

Feb 24, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

New abbot of Optina Monastery appointed

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church appointed a new abbot for Optina Monastery at its session in Ekaterinburg on Saturday, reports orthochristian.com. Former abbot Archimandrite Benedict Penkov reposed in the Lord on January 22 at the age of 79, having served nearly 20 years as the abbot of the great Optina Pustyn Monastery. At…

Jul 18, 2018Sorin Ioniţe