Synaxis of saints
Synaxis Synaxis of the Optina Elders
XIX — нач. XX в.; Собор установлен в 1996/2000 гг.
Synaxis of the Optina Elders — a collective commemoration of 14 glorified elders of Optina Pustyn from the 19th to early 20th century, who embodied the tradition of spiritual eldership and guided thousands of pilgrims, including leading figures of Russian culture.
IMPORTANT CATEGORY CORRECTION: the category has been corrected from "venerable" to "synaxis/council of saints" — the card represents a collective feast of 14 separate ascetics, each of whom is already (or could be) represented by their own individual card (e.g., already present in the database as nikon_of_optina_elder), not a single person.
The glorification of the Optina Elders proceeded in several stages: in 1988 the Local Council of the ROC canonized Hieroschemamonk Ambrose (Grenkov) individually; on July 26, 1996, the Synod numbered the remaining Optina ascetics among the locally venerated saints, setting October 11 (the feast of Venerable Leo) as the date of their joint commemoration; in 2000 veneration of the Optina Elders was extended to church-wide status; on December 25, 2009, the Holy Synod approved a special service "to the Synaxis of the Venerable Optina Elders," prepared by the Synodal Liturgical Commission, for church-wide liturgical use. The list of 14 elders was later completed with Venerable Isaac II (Bobrikov, d. 1938) as the last of the group.
The Synaxis includes: Leo (Nagolkin, d. 1841), Macarius (Ivanov, d. 1860), Moses (Putilov, d. 1862), Anthony (Putilov, d. 1865), Hilarion (Ponomaryov, d. 1873), Ambrose (Grenkov, d. 1891), Anatoly "the Elder" (Zertsalov, d. 1894), Isaac I (Antimonov, d. 1894), Joseph (Litovkin, d. 1911), Barsanuphius (Plikhankov, d. 1913), Anatoly "the Younger" (Potapov, d. 1922), Nectarius (Tikhonov, d. 1928), Venerable Confessor Nikon (Belyaev, d. 1931 — already represented separately in this database), and Isaac II (Bobrikov, d. 1938).
The feast is kept on October 11/24.