Archbishop Averky addresses head on the question, “What is asceticism?” He counters the many false understandings that exist and shows that the practice of authentic asceticism is integral to the spiritual life and the path to blessed communion with God.
Archbishop Averky (Taushev) (1906–1976) was the fourth abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York. He was born in Imperial Russia and lived in Bulgaria after the Russian Revolution. He taught and served in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Germany before being assigned in 1951 to teach at the Holy Trinity Seminary. He was consecrated a bishop and, after the death of Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko), in 1960 became the abbotof Holy Trinity Monastery. As abbot and rector, he was heavily involved in the formation of the seminary curriculum and the daily life of the seminarians and monks.
