Venerable Anatoly (Zertsalov) of Optina, the Elder

Venerable Anatoly (in the world, Alexei Moiseevich Zertsalov) was born in 1824 in the village of Bobyli, Kaluga province, into a deacon's family. After a miraculous recovery from a serious illness, and in fulfillment of a vow, he entered Optina Hermitage in 1853, becoming a spiritual disciple of the venerable elders Macarius and Ambrose of Optina. Tonsured a monk in 1862, Father Anatoly took on various obediences and became Elder Ambrose's closest assistant, later serving as superior of the St. John the Forerunner Skete. He provided spiritual guidance not only to the Optina brotherhood but also to the nuns of Shamordino Convent. On 15 December 1893 he secretly received the great schema, and on 25 January (7 February) 1894 he peacefully departed to the Lord during the reading of the prayer for the dying.