Literary preferences of Optina monks

In the course of the XIXth century, which was marked by spiritual schism between the East and the West, all Optina elders acted as educators of the Orthodox faith, conscience of the Russian people. This article discusses literary preferences of Optina monks. The research is based on the epistolary heritage of the elder Macary (Ivanov), namely, the manuscript sources of the nineteenth century kept in the Russian State Library. The monks of Optina were actively involved in the literary process of 1840-1860s. The monks were interested in the views of the Russian and foreign writers, in their faith. During our research it was determined that the following nine literary magazines, published in Russia in the mid-nineteenth century, constituted the main interest of the Optina monks: “The Lighthouse”, “Moskvityanin”, “Illustration”, “The Orthodox Interlocutor”, “Russian Conversation”, “Russian Journal”, “Spiritual Conversation”, “Public Reading”, “The Wanderer”. The role of literature as a key in the dissemination and enhancement of Orthodox views is identified.