When Moses, Your servant, O Lord, desired to serve You in solitude in the desert, You set him over the glorious Optina Monastery. Even though he wished to hide his virtues, You raised up the lamp of his life for all to see. So, with humility, we cry to You, Lover of mankind: by the ceaseless prayers of the Venerable one, grant us Your bounty and great mercy for our souls.
Sticheron to Venerable Moses of Optina, Tone 3
In the town of Mologa, Yaroslavl province, a cross rises above a marble monument beside the altar of the Church of All Saints in the municipal cemetery. One side of the monument bears the inscription: “Under this stone lies the body of the Moscow merchant Ivan Grigoryevich Putilov.” On the other side are engraved the names of his children, who raised this memorial: “The Putilov children: Moses, Abbot of Optina Hermitage; Isaiah, Abbot of Sarov Hermitage; Anthony, Abbot of the Maloyaroslavets Monastery of Saint Nicholas.” All three brothers, as Abbots, grew into great men of prayer and action in the Christian life.
Archimandrite Moses (baptised Timofei), third of Ivan Putilov’s ten children, was born on 28 January 1782, in the town of Borisoglebsk. Their father raised them in faith and guarded them from bad influences by teaching them reading and writing himself.
View of Sarov Monastery from the south-west
Timofei and his younger brother Jonah felt called to monastic life but kept their longing secret, knowing their father’s stern nature. For two years, they lived at Sarov Hermitage, having the blessing to meet the great Elder, Saint Seraphim, before sharing with their father that — rather than serve, as planned, under the Moscow merchant Karpychev — they had chosen another Lord. Jonah remained at Sarov, and, in time, became the Abbot of that brotherhood. Timofei, however, went to the Svyensk Dormition Monastery as a novice.
Svyensk Dormition Monastery
It seems that Timofei sought even greater solitude. Near Svyensk Monastery lay the Roslavl forests — a wild stretch, home to ascetics who lived far from the world, known for the strictness of their lives and their spiritual devotion. Many among them had come from Svyensk itself. In 1811, Timofei Ivanovich joined their silent ranks.
In the Roslavl forests, he spent ten years — a wealth of time that became for him a deep school of ascetic living. Timofei Ivanovich settled with six hermits, who had long struggled in those dark, untamed woods, some forty versts from Roslavl. He became a disciple of Father Athanasius, an Elder well-versed in spiritual life and prayer.
Later, Archimandrite Moses would recall his days among the hermits: “When I came to the Roslavl forests, the hermits there lived in three small huts. Settling alongside Father Athanasius, I built a new hut for him and for myself; it was my first attempt at building. All through that long winter, wolves howled around us without ceasing. We grew used to their cries, much as one grows used to the wind. Bears sometimes gave us trouble too, tearing through our vegetable plots. We saw them at close quarters and often heard them breaking trees in the woods, but they never touched us, and we lived alongside them in peace.”
The place of the labours of Saint Moses and Anthony of Optina in the Roslavl forests
Father Moses read the writings of the Holy Fathers about the ascetic life, copied service books in the semi-uncial script, and kept a spiritual diary. On 15 December 1819, for example, he wrote: “During the meal, an understanding dawned in my mind about the brothers living with me — that I should take their faults, both those I see and those they confess, upon myself and repent for them as if they were my own; so I would not judge them harshly nor let anger flare in me. The failings, the slips and sins of the brothers — I shall make them mine.”
Each day, the hermits held services in their own huts. On Sundays and feast days, they gathered for worship together. In time, Father Athanasius tonsured Timofei Ivanovich as a monk, giving him the name Moses, in honour of Saint Moses the Black. He was given this name for his kindness and love for travellers, qualities shared by the Venerable Moses the Black himself.
In 1820, Father Moses paid a visit to Optina Hermitage, where he met the Most Reverend Philaret (Amphiteatrov), then serving as Bishop in Kaluga. This meeting proved to be guided by God’s hand. Bishop Philaret, who had long cherished monastic life, wanted to found a secluded skete in the pine woods around Optina and hoped to entrust this work to the Roslavl hermits, knowing the rigour of their way of life. Father Moses impressed the Bishop with his humility and spiritual wisdom, strengthened by ten years of experience in the wilderness. After some letters between them, Father Moses accepted the invitation to move to Optina Hermitage and set up the skete.
On 6 June 1821, together with several monks — including his younger brother, by now tonsured Anthony — Father Moses arrived at Optina Hermitage.
A hermit’s hut in the woods of Optina
In 1825, at Bishop Philaret’s urging, Father Moses became head of the monastery. This marked the start of a bright new chapter in the history of Optina Hermitage — a period now remembered as its finest and most fruitful. Under Father Moses, the brotherhood and the very life of the monastery flourished, both in outward affairs and in the quiet depths of the soul. When he took charge, the community faced debts of twelve thousand roubles and counted only forty-six monks, as listed in the year 1826. By the time he stepped down, he left his successor a thriving household and a strong, close-knit brotherhood of one hundred and eight men. Of Father Moses, one may repeat the simple, yet weighty praise once given by Russian chroniclers of holy Abbots long ago: “He built the monastery and gathered brothers.”
His wisdom and leadership extended beyond material matters, however, shaping the very way the monks approached their daily tasks and responsibilities. This is evident in his characteristic approach to giving instructions. When giving orders, Archimandrite Moses never liked to tie down his brethren to every detail. He told them what was needful, then left the rest to their own sense and the run of events. Should anyone press him to spell out instructions to the last word, he would often reply, “The task itself will tell you what is needed.”
And indeed, it turned out that, in carrying out a chore, unexpected turns would often arise. Freed from a strict list of musts, the brother could act as he saw fit, using his own wits and judgement. In his heart, he was glad his request for detailed orders had gone unanswered — for the task would not have allowed him to keep to them in any case.
The new Abbot widened the Presentation Cathedral, which had grown too small for the many pilgrims and increasing brotherhood. In the refectory, he established a church in honour of Saint Mary of Egypt and built a cemetery church as well.
Plan for an extension and two side-chapels to the Presentation Cathedral
Much work was done within the churches themselves. Walls were adorned with beautiful painting; new icon screens were installed. The monastery treasury grew and received splendid new vestments. Thanks to Father Moses, the brothers’ lodgings were improved and extended; seven new buildings rose. A stone wall with seven towers enclosed the grounds, and a spacious new refectory was built. Another great achievement was the founding of a monastery library: for this, a fine stone house was raised. Father Moses saw to it that the shelves were filled, donating his own large collection of books and manuscripts as the foundation — a collection remarkable in both size and subject.
Churches of Optina Hermitage and the Skete of Saint John the Forerunner, 19th century
Pilgrims to Optina found a warm welcome. New guesthouses went up for them — eight buildings with three wings. Among other improvements, two horse-yards rose, each with monks’ cells, along with a cattle shed, a brickworks, a tileworks, and a mill. Vast new vegetable gardens and orchards spread across the land; holdings of the monastery almost doubled, with one hundred and eighty-eight dessiatins of woods alone. On land granted to the Hermitage in 1853, a farmstead was set up to provide hay and to catch fish.
All these grand works and buildings were accomplished with little to no money, relying on faith. The Abbot, it is remembered, would begin construction of a large new block with barely fifteen roubles at hand — but by some means, funds would appear, and the work would carry on; onlookers could not help but marvel. This seemingly miraculous provision was often accompanied by acts of quiet charity, subtly woven into the fabric of monastery life. These acts, though often unseen, revealed the true heart behind the Abbot's ambitious endeavours.
There was an occasion when Archimandrite Moses welcomed guests in the drawing room. While they spoke together, an elderly woman, poorly dressed and holding a pillow, quietly entered the front hall. Father Moses noticed her through the wide open doors and, as was his habit, at once went out to meet her.
“What do you need?” he asked gently.
“Father, would you buy this pillow?” she replied, lifting it up towards him.
“No, we have no need of it,” he answered.
“Oh, Father, please, have mercy — take it. I have hungry children at home, nothing to feed them with.”
“How much is this pillow?” he enquired.
“One and a half roubles,” she said softly.
“That is too much — take one rouble.”
With these words, Father Moses made his way into his bedchamber. From a drawer, he took out a five-rouble note. Returning to the hall, he pressed it into the woman’s hand as if it were a single rouble, repeating, “Too dear, too dear.”
The woman bowed in gratitude and left. His visitors saw him come back and hardly had he settled in his chair when the old woman, standing outside and looking at the money, realised it was much more than he had said and opened the door again. She called out, “Father, did you give me the wrong money by mistake?”
“No, off you go now,” he said kindly. “I told you, it is worth no more than a rouble.”
So she left, still amazed, and the guests heard nothing about anything but the price of a single rouble in silver. It was not the first time Father Moses had hidden his good deeds in this quiet way.
The Church of Saint Mary of Egypt, Optina Hermitage, 19th century
During Father Moses’ time as Abbot, the noble tradition of eldership began to blossom at Optina Hermitage. It was he who invited Elder Leon to the monastery, and later entrusted the care of the brotherhood’s souls to Leon’s follower, Father Macarius. In those days, a young novice named Ambrose also entered the brotherhood — he would, in time, become the Hermitage’s greatest guiding light.
Father Moses saw the importance of books as well. During his tenure, sixteen volumes of the Holy Fathers’ writings were published. “One day,” he would say, “someone may read one or another of these books, and the spiritual gain of a single soul will repay all our efforts. God willing, fruits will come in the end.”
Working without pause for Optina’s good, Father Moses, richly gifted by grace, found little time to receive confessions or to instruct visitors, unlike Elders Leon and Macarius. Yet his lasting wonder is Optina itself, a monastery which, under his hand, flourished and gained renown — truly becoming the heart of spiritual life in Russia.
On 6 June 1862, not long before his end, Father Moses was made worthy to take the monastic Great Habit. News of his tonsure and approaching repose spread quickly. Monks and layfolk flocked to his bedside in great numbers. With tears and deep awe, they came forward for his final blessing. The dying Abbot, holding the cross with feeble hands, blessed them all and gave out small icons. He passed away peacefully on 16 June 1862, in the eighty-first year of his earthly journey.
The life of Schema-Archimandrite Moses was a day-by-day feat of faith; even in his own lifetime, many saw this — even though he did all he could to hide his virtues. In the year 2000, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church counted Elder Moses (Putilov) among the Saints. The relics of Saint Moses of Optina now rest in the Kazan Church at the monastery, side by side with the relics of Saint Anthony.
Relics of Saints Moses and Anthony of Optina in the Kazan Church of Optina Hermitage
In the life story written by the brethren after his departure, we read: "One could sum up the Abbot’s whole life in these words: he lived a hidden life in God. However great that phrase may be, for him it was reality. In all things — in his care for the building and welfare of the monastery, in his wise rule and upholding of the brotherhood, in every worthy endeavour — he set all his hopes on the Lord with full faith and trust. He took everything that came as coming from the Lord: trial as sent for the soul’s good; comfort as a sign of the Father’s kind care. ‘From Him, our Maker,’ he would say, ‘is our very being; by Him we live and move; from Him come every good thing and every gift.’”
These words of the Elder are a worthy guide for us all.
Material prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Photographs from the Internet
Sources:
1. The Full Life of Elder Moses (optina.ru)
2. Biography of the Abbot of the Kozelsk Entrance-into-the-Temple Optina Hermitage, Archimandrite Moses, Moscow, 1882
3. Lives of the Optina Elders. Saint Moses. Publishing House of the Entrance-into-the-Temple Optina Monastery, 2004
4. Simple Stories of What Matters Most. Orthodox Calendar 2017. — Minsk: Saint Elisabeth Convent, 2016
5. Saint Moses. — Entrance-into-the-Temple Optina Monastery, 2004
