This book is about elders in the Orthodox sense of the word. And these are not just the most respected and experienced monks in spiritual life, but those who have reached extraordinary spiritual heights, acquired the gift of healing, miracle workers and seers, men of prayer who have saved hundreds and thousands of people with their words, true “pillars of faith.” The author of the book, historian and writer Vyacheslav Bondarenko, included ten essays about the great elders of the Russian Orthodox Church of the 18th–20th centuries, glorified as saints. If you try to compile a list of the most outstanding citizens of our Motherland, the author believes, then the heroes of the book can rightfully be placed at the head of this list of worthy ones: after all, it is they who have concentrated in themselves the spiritual power and beauty of Russia, its centuries-old experience. And it is no coincidence that military leaders, politicians, writers, philosophers, and ordinary people came to them for advice, guidance, and blessings.