starets

Related to starets: vicar

sta·rets

(stär′yĭts)

n. pl. star·tsy (stärt′sē)

A spiritual adviser, often a monk or religious hermit, in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

[Russian, elder, starets, from Old Church Slavonic starĭtsĭ, elder, from starŭ, old; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sta•rets

(ˈstɑr ɪts, -yɪts)

n., pl. star•tsy (ˈstɑrt si)

a religious teacher or counselor in the Eastern Church, esp. the Russian Orthodox Church.

[1915–20; < Russian stárets elder, derivative of stáryǐ old]

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Noun

starets - a religious adviser (not necessarily a priest) in the Eastern Orthodox Church

adviser, advisor, consultant - an expert who gives advice; "an adviser helped students select their courses"; "the United States sent military advisors to Guatemala"

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If many of the demands of life in the monastery, which was near the capital and much frequented, did not please him and were temptations to him, they were all nullified by obedience: 'It is not for me to reason; my business is to do the task set me, whether it be standing beside the relics, singing in the choir, or making up accounts in the monastery guest-house.' All possibility of doubt about anything was silenced by obedience to the starets. Had it not been for this, he would have been oppressed by the length and monotony of the church services, the bustle of the many visitors, and the bad qualities of the other monks.

All he could do then was to obey the starets, to restrain himself, to undertake nothing, and simply to wait.

The Abbot of that monastery was a gentleman by birth, a learned writer and a starets, that is, he belonged to that succession of monks originating in Walachia who each choose a director and teacher whom they implicitly obey.

In the fourth year of his priesthood, during which the Bishop had been particularly kind to him, the starets told him that he ought not to decline it if he were offered an appointment to higher duties.

He was so alarmed that he wrote about it to the starets. And in addition, to keep himself in hand, he spoke to a young novice and, conquering his sense of shame, confessed his weakness to him, asking him to keep watch on him and not let him go anywhere except to service and to fulfil his duties.

Next day Father Sergius asked pardon of the Abbot and of the brethren for his pride, but at the same time, after a night spent in prayer, he decided that he must leave this monastery, and he wrote to the starets begging permission to return to him.

Sergius obeyed the starets, showed his letter to the Abbot, and having obtained his permission, gave up his cell, handed all his possessions over to the monastery, and set out for the Tambov hermitage.

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Here Starets Zosima's brother, who had left his faith, comes back to it and claims: "Yes, there was such a glory of God all about me: birds, trees, meadows, sky; only I lived in shame and dishonoured it all and did not notice the beauty and glory." Fedor M.

Terrence Malick Beyond Nature and Grace: Song to Song and the Experience of Forgiveness

Starets Ephrem the Philotheite said about the foolishness of God's love that: "If only we knew what a Father we have (how loving, forgiving, merciful He is--author's note), we would shout loudly like fools because of so great a joy.

The abundant joy in Heaven over sinners' fervent repentance. Meditationes e Sanctis Patribus

The starets or holy elder has a long tradition in the Orthodox Church.

Ageing, diversity and the meaning(s) of later life: cultural, social and historical models to age by

Seraphim, the priest who baptized him and was a disciple of one of the last starets, or elders, of the famous monastery of Optino.