“...I have known Optina Pustyn for a long time, almost 16 years, since 1874. During these 16 years I visited her frequently; I lived in it before for a long time, both in winter and in summer, and now I live near it all the time, soon it will be my fourth year. And I see a big difference, a big change for the better. The need to get closer to the Church, to its traditions, the need for spiritual guidance has increased before my eyes. More and more often over the years I began to meet people who come here not only out of curiosity and only out of a national feeling that attracts them to admire something truly Russian, something living by the principles by which our ancestors lived, in a well-maintained Russian monastery. No! There is a lot of evidence that personal and religious needs have intensified in recent years...”