Correspondent of St. Theophan the Recluse, Hieroschemamonk Theodosius of Karulsky

Abstract

The article reconstructs the context and, based on this, analyzes the content of the correspondence of St. Theophan the Recluse and Hieroschemamonk Theodosius (Kharitonov) Karulsky during the latter’s fourth year of study at the Kazan Theological Academy. The surviving four letters to St. Theophan’s letters were not included in the classical collections of the saint's letters and became known to a wide circle of readers through publication in the magazine «Russian Pilgrim» (2001). We were able to establish that letters had already been published previously without indicating the addressee in the magazine «Symbol» (1985), and a comparison of the discrepancies shows that the publication of «Russian Pilgrim» was made from a handwritten copy, while the publication of «Symbol» was based on the original. The correspondence is given special value, on the one hand, by the brief program of the theological system of Theophan the Recluse contained in it, compiled by the saint himself in the last year of his life. On the other hand, the remarkable significance of correspondence in the life of Hieromonk Theodosius himself: the instructions of St. Theophan’s life largely determined his future spiritual path. As evidence of the context of the correspondence, in addition to diary entries and memoirs of contemporaries, we were able to attract the surviving fragment of a letter from Theophan the Recluse to B. A. Jordan.