Elder Barsanuphius of Optina akathist Protomartyr of the Lemko People

Protomartyr of the Lemko People

she gave generously to those in need

Perhaps more than anyone else in our times

his practical advice on the need for repentance

she lived in this world ‘as alive from the dead’ (Cf

Elder Barsanuphius of Optina akathist Protomartyr of the Lemko PeopleElder Barsanuphius (18451913), a disciple of Elder Anatole (Zertsalov) and Elder Nektary, was a highly cultured man and a successful colonel before entering the monastic life at a relatively late age. Due to his purity of heart and spiritual sobriety, he was transformed by God into a grace filled Elder virtually overnight. The period before the first World War and the Russian Revolution was a complex one. The world was seething in unprecedented