Elder (Starets)
MARIA GWYN MCDOWELL
A man or woman (Slavonic: Starets, Starissa), often (though not exclusively) monastic, gifted with spiritual discernment (diakrisis) who is able to offer wisdom to members of a monastic community or the wider church as they pursue the Orthodox Christian life. Most probably a practice originating in the desert monasticism of the early church, elders were individuals specially recognized as teachers and advisers, spiritual mothers and fathers, as a result of their ascetic lives, their evident practice of virtue, and possession of the spiritual gift of discernment. Informed by the traditions of teaching and care existing in lateancient philosophical schools, the goal of disciple-elder relationships within ascetic and other Christian communities was the growth of the soul. The collections of “sayings” (Apophthegmata) from desert fathers and mothers are a written record of responses to specific questions regarding how to live a Christian (and often ascetic) life. One of the best examples of this is the material preserved in the traditions associated with Sts. Barsanuphius and John, though the famous text of the Ladder by St. John Klimakos also demonstrates the principle, and the writings of St. Symeon the New Theologian give high priority to the relation of elder and disciple (Turner 1990). The responsibility of the elder to the disciple is to pray, rightly discern individual needs, offer encouragement and discipline, and when necessary apply oikonomia (“economy” or “condescension”), the adjustment of rules in the light of what discipline will best help a particular person return to proper conduct. While in practice an elder is often a monastic, neither monasticism nor ordination is a requirement. The consistent practice of confession with an elder often confuses the question of ordination as it became a primary sacrament long after its inception as an essential practice of the spiritual life. The elder’s authority is granted through the recognition of wisdom by the larger community, and may or may not have any official correspondence. Consulting with a trusted elder continues to be encouraged among the Orthodox, often designated by the more modern phrase “spiritual direction,” but with a much more specific and deeper sense of spiritual bonding under the eyes of God than this phrase often conveys.
Plate 18 Father Pavlos, the spiritual Elder (Starets) of the Sinai monastic community. Photo by Dwight Grimm
SEE ALSO: Desert Fathers and Mothers; St. John Klimakos (ca. 579-ca. 659); St. Paisy Velichovsky (1722–1794); St. Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833); St. Silouan of Athos (1866–1938); Sts. Barsanuphius and John (6th c.); Sophrony, Archimandrite (1896–1993)
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Demacopoulos, G. D. (2007) Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Hadot, P. (2002) Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique. Paris, Albin Michel.
Swan, L. (2001) The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women. New York: Paulist Press.
Turner, H. J. M. (1990) St. Symeon the New Theologian and Spiritual Fatherhood. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Ward, B. (2003) The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks. New York: Penguin.