Letters to a Beginner: on Giving One's Life to God

Abbess Thaisia “The work of success in your monastic life—the work of your salvation, is, so to speak, in your own hands; and would it not be a shame, would it not be sad, to lose it from your hands irretrievably?”—excerpt from LETTERS TO A BEGINNER   This book was so popular and beneficial for those leading a spiritual life in pre-Revolutionary Russia that it was reprinted several times and distributed to all monasteries, sketes, and many parishes. It was a key guidebook for women monastic aspirants, giving them a right understanding of how to dedicate their lives to God.   If one reads Abbess Thaisia’s letters on spiritual life with a discerning eye—not relegating the principles in them solely to the realm of monastic experience—they can be soberly used among the spiritually struggling people of our modern urban society. These letters lead us to a prayerful life, a life in which our feet are firmly planted on earth while our hearts are abiding in heaven. The chapters include “On Idle