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Venerable (Monastic)19th century

Venerable Isaac I of Optina

1810–1894

Also known as Isaac Antimonov

An elder of Optina who reposed in 1894, later glorified among the Optina Elders.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Isaac I, Schema-Archimandrite and Superior of Optina

Life

Isaac I of Optina (born Ivan Ivanovich Antimonov; 31 May 1810 – 22 August 1894) was a Russian monastic who served as Superior of the Optina Hermitage from 1862 until his death in 1894. He held the rank of schema-archimandrite and is counted among the Optina Elders, the company of spiritual guides associated with one of the foremost centers of nineteenth-century Russian monasticism.

His long tenure as superior coincided with the height of Optina's influence as a center of the monastic renewal movement rooted in the hesychastic tradition. His spiritual formation was shaped by the Optina eldership, and in particular by Elder Ambrose. He was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1990 and formally canonized for general veneration by the Russian Orthodox Church on 7 August 2000.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Isaac, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline4 momentsReadHide
  1. 31 May 1810Birth in KurskBorn Ivan Ivanovich Antimonov in Kursk, Russia.
  2. 1862Appointed Superior of OptinaBecame Superior of the Optina Hermitage, an office he would hold for the rest of his life.
  3. 22 August 1894ReposeReposed at the Optina Hermitage in Kozelsk, Russia, after more than three decades as superior.
  4. 7 August 2000GlorificationFormally glorified for general veneration by the Russian Orthodox Church, having earlier been glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in 1990.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Superior of Optina

From 1862 to 1894 Isaac served as Superior of the Optina Hermitage, near Kozelsk. During this period Optina was regarded as the most important spiritual center of the Church of Russia in the nineteenth century, renowned for the renewal of monastic life in the hesychastic tradition. He held the rank of schema-archimandrite.

His monastic life was influenced by the Optina elder Ambrose, one of the best-known of the Optina spiritual fathers. As superior, Isaac belonged to the unbroken line of elders through whom the monastery exercised its wider influence on Russian spiritual life.

Relics & Shrines

His remains are kept in the Kazan Church of the Optina Monastery.

Veneration

Isaac is commemorated on 22 August, the day of his repose, and together with all the Optina Elders on 11 October. He is distinguished from Isaac II of Optina (born 1865), a later superior of the same monastery.

Member ofReadHide
Synaxis of the Optina Elders
Commemorated together · Oct 11
Companions2 figuresShowHide
Elder: The Optina elder under whose eldership Isaac was formed at the hermitage.
Macariusof Optina
Spiritual father: The Optina elder who, the sources note, chiefly shaped Isaac's monastic life.
Ambroseof Optina
Related Saints2 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Same office: A later schema-archimandrite and superior of the Optina Hermitage, from whom Isaac I is distinguished.
Venerable Isaac IIof Optina
An elder of Optina through the years of his abbacy.
Venerable Anatole Iof Optina

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints