Starets (plural: Startsy)

STARETS (plural: Startsy). - That is, "old man," a very ancient monastic institution in Russia. The st. (priest or not) is the monk who, possessed by the Holy Spirit, becomes a guide on the path of perfection.

In the monastery the st. has no office of government. His own life and not the choice of others makes him a st., and with the spiritual experience of a life of renunciation and prayer he succeeds in attracting souls who sense in him something of the presence of God.

The institution of the st. had its origin in the convents, where the st., besides spiritual direction, exercised by their example an effective stimulus to regular observance. But it crossed beyond the convents to spread among all the people, over whom the st. exercised a broader and deeper influence. It was they who taught the faithful to raise their eyes above ritualism and formalism and to accustom themselves to seeing God not only in ceremonies but also in the interior life. Humility and obedience are warmly recommended by the st.

There were in fact st. well before the 18th century, but their institution as a spiritual school founded on the asceticism of the Fathers and with its own methods and customs is owed to Paissii Velichkovsky (1722-94), who, following the example of St. Nil Sorsky, taught monks to set greater store by inner perfection and union with God, so that, inwardly composed and opposed to sin, they might combat temptations by means of enlightened and sanctifying prayer.

Giovanni Kologrivof