- Paisius Velichkovsky
Saint Paisius Velichkovsky or Wieliczkowski ("Paisie de la Neamţ" in Romanian; Паисий Величковский in Russian; Паїсій Величковський in Ukrainian; 1722-1794) is the founder of modern
Eastern Orthodox starets dom.A Ukrainian by birth, Pyotr Velichkovsky was born in
Poltava , where his father Ivan was a priest. At the age of 17 he took monastic vows and went toMount Athos , where he established a separatehermit age for himself and his followers.In 1764 Prince
Grigore III Ghica ofMoldavia asked Paisius to revive the monastic life in his country. Thereupon Paisius and 64 other monks went toIaşi . While living in the principality, Paisius administrated several cloisters, notably theNeamţ Monastery .Paisius wrote theological epistles to his disciples and translated into Russian a great number of Greek theological writings, including the "
Philokalia ". He exerted immense influence on the "startsy" of theOptina Monastery both through his translations and through his personal disciples, such asFeodor Ushakov . Paisius's translation of "Philokalia " was one of the favourite books of saintSeraphim of Sarov , who received blessing to go toSarov for spiritual devotion from the Paisius's monastery close friend abba Dositheus nearKyiv .External links
* [http://paisius-niamets.orthodoxy.ru/ Online resource on Saint Paisius]
* [http://paisius-niamets.orthodoxy.ru/shema2.jpgMap of monasteries associated with St Paisius]
* [http://www.crestinism-ortodox.ro/html/10/10h_cuviosul_staret_paisie.html Biography] (in Romanian)
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