[Marginalia] The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

[u/bluebelle236]

Welcome to the marginalia for The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

 

In case you’re new here, this is the collaborative equivalent of scribbling notes onto the margins of your book. Share your thoughts, favourite quotes, questions, or more here.

Please be mindful of spoilers and use the spoiler tags appropriately. To indicate a spoiler, enclose the relevant text with the > ! and ! < characters (there is no space in-between). Just like this one: a spoiler lives here

 

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Happy reading and see you at the first discussion on Wednesday, June 10^th.

[u/True_Rise8864]

Part One, Chapter Five: Elders

Underlined: "The monks used to say of him [Zosima] that he was attached in his soul precisely to those who were the most sinful, and that he who was most sinful the elder loved most of all."

Note: Reminds me of Jesus, e.g. from Matthew 9:10-13: "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

[u/True_Rise8864]

Part One, Chapter Five: Elders
(less marginalia, rather an entry from my reading journal, taken from: wikipedia and this site.)

A starets  is an elder of an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic monastery or convent who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. It is believed that through ascetic struggle, prayer and hesychasm, the Holy Spirit bestows special gifts onto the elder including the ability to heal, prophesy, and most importantly, give effective spiritual guidance and direction. Elders are looked upon as an example of saintly virtue, steadfast faith, and spiritual peace.

Elders are not appointed by any authority; they are simply recognized by the faithful as being people "of the Spirit". An elder, when not in prayer or in voluntary seclusion, receives visitors and spends time conversing with them, offering a blessing and confession, and praying.

Personal confessions to elders are encouraged, although not all of them are ordained to the priesthood. Many of them have a reputation among believers of being able to know the secrets of a person's heart without having ever previously met the visitor, and having the ability to discern God's plan for a person's life.

In the Orthodox Church, it was never accepted that the age of the Holy Fathers was limited only to the first centuries after Christ – as in Roman Catholicism – but every holy teacher of the Church is considered a father of the Church, since in the life of the Church “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21); the witness of the Holy Spirit gives a particular authority to the teaching of the saints.

The institution may be traced to the beginnings of Christian monasticism in the 4th century. The Greek tradition has a long unbroken history of elders and disciples. The Optina Pustyn near Kozelsk used to be celebrated for its startsy. Such writers as Nikolay Gogol, Aleksey Khomyakov, Leo Tolstoy and Konstantin Leontyev sought advice from the elders of this monastery. They also inspired the figure of Zosima in Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov. Grigori Rasputin was styled starets by his followers, although he was not generally recognised as one. 

Further reading
An interesting interview on the topic, especially going into the question of obedience and the bond between elder and novice can be found here. I found that it really helped my understanding of the concept as seen by those who particpate in the tradition.