This collection of letters by Elder Anatoly of Optina (+1894) to nuns of convents neigboring Optina cover a wide array of tributlations, temptations, sins and offer advice on spiritual practices to combat them. Elder Anatoly provides guidance that is practical and challenging, but always offered with the utmost humility and love. His letters, at turns gentle and stern, are gems of spiritual direction that advise the nuns of his time, as well as the struggling Christian of the modern world.
Fr. Anatoly was one of the most revered monks and spiritual advisers at the great monastery of Optina in Kaluga Province, south of Moscow, during its heyday in the late ninenteenth century.
