Wisdom from Mount Athos: The Writings of Staretz Silouan, 1866-1938

Staretz, or "elder", is a title given to Orthodox monks of particular spiritual development. Staretz Silouan was a Russian peasant whose only formal education consisted of two winters at the village school. But on Mt Athos, rooted in a tradition reaching back to the very beginnings of Christian monasticism, he was taught of God and attained wisdom akin to that of the Desert Fathers.

Wisdom from Mount Athos is a collection of the notes which Staretz Silouan penciled on odd scraps of paper. Included is his prose-poem Adam's Lament, which echoes the haunting lyrical urgency of the Psalms. On the whole, Silouan's writing recalls the splendor of the great liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church.This title is also available from SVS Press.ArchimandriteSophrony Sakharov, Archimandrate Sophrony