'Keep it simple, and God will not forsake you'. Life and teachings of St. Leo of Optina and St. Theodore of Neamts

Publisher's Foreword

This is a life story of two spiritual mentors in the Eastern Christian Orthodox tradition, St. Leo of Optina (Nagolkin) and St. Theodore of Neamts (Polzikov). St Theodore was a disciple of St. Paisios (Velichkovsky). St Paisios re-established in several monasteries on Athos and in Romania, where he was father superior, the practice of incessant prayer to Jesus Christ. This practice is known as 'Jesus prayer' and he had discovered this practice in the writings of ancient Christian ascetics.

St. Leo and St. Theodore established the schools of inner prayer and revelation of thoughts amongst the monks in Optina and several other monasteries at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century. Inner prayer, revelation of thoughts and admonishing through acting, amongst other methods of purifying and elevating the soul for the sake of receiving the Holy Spirit, were almost forgotten by that time. In the life of the clergy the stress was put on the obedience to the superiors in the hierarchy, strict complying to the church rules and following church services and the work of penance. The inner core of the monks remained often untouched by this, they couldn't open it to the light of the Gospel.

St. Leo and St. Theodore had to endure the hostility of some church hierarchs and monks, who didn't understand the necessity of inner work on the way to God. They did it firmly but at the same time full of love for their fellowmen and revived the spiritual mentorship amongst the Eastern Orthodox Christian clergy as well as the laity.

Marijcke Tooneman

The Hague, september 2022