From the publishers This collection includes stories about the saints of God, created not only by Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) himself, but also collected by him throughout his long life. Vladika Benjamin was a great man of prayer, and the Lord rewarded him with the rare gift of seeing the good and holy in people. So, before the official canonization, he named schema-abbot Herman Zosimovsky, Father Nectarius of Optina, Father John of Kronstadt as saints - and compiled their biographies based on his experience of communicating with ascetics. Biography of Fr. Schema-Hegumen Herman and Fr. John of Kronstadt are published for the first time. In order to get an idea of the personality of Fr. Nektary was fuller and brighter; the bishop also added notes compiled by his close spiritual daughter, Fr. Nektary, Nadezhda Pavlovich, as well as previously unpublished recordings of other people given to him. Among the first publications are also some stories from the book “Crimean Ascetics.” For many years, Bishop Veniamin wrote down his impressions of meetings and communication with kind, good people. These notes resulted in a work entitled “From the Bishop’s Notes,” presented in this collection. Most of the stories are published for the first time. The publication is supplied with photographs, many of which are also published for the first time. In particular, a photo from the Fedchenkov family archive. These valuable materials were provided by relatives of Bishop Veniamin, Elena Aleksandrovna Shchennikova and Alla Aleksandrovna Kucherenko. We take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to them.