Striving Toward God: Spiritual Advice for Daily Living

Only when our life is wholly directed toward God do we become capable of seeing God in all and begin to do so by faith – not only in all the significant happenings of life but even in the insignificant ones – and to submit entirely to His holy will.

The 19th century saw a renaissance of Russian spirituality in the writings of St Ignatius (Brianchaninov) and St Theophan the Recluse. This book brings to an English-speaking audience the spiritual counsels of another Russian monastic of the same period. Born into a patrician family in the Don region, Anna Mikhailovna Sebriakova forsook the world at the age of seventeen and joined the Ust’Medveditskiii convent, where she was tonsured a nun with the name Arsenia. She subsequently served as abbess of this same monastery for 41 years. Heavily influenced by the writings of St Ignatius, she took up correspondence with his brother P.A.Brianchaninov. Her letters to Peter Alexandrovich form the bulk of this book. Also offered are a selection of her personal notes and letters to other individuals. Abbess Arsenia’s counsels are steeped in Holy Scripture and in the inspiration that she draws from the services of the Orthodox Church. She emphasises the need to humble oneself, discern the will of God and fulfil it in every moment of our life. — Backcover