Saint Paisiy (Velichkovskiy) and the revival of the spiritual tradition

The article deals with St. Paisiy’s contribution into the revival of the spiritual tradition, his influence on book publishing and the organization of monastic life. St. Paisiy is considered in the article as a mediator between Athos and Russia, a deep theorist of prayer and a leader of the true tradition of mystical theology. It is noted that St. Paisiy made not just a school of spiritual work, but also a whole movement, which includes teachers of spiritual life. The name of St. Paisiy is associated with the revival of hesychasm, or the experience of spiritual prayer in Russia in the 18th-19th centuries. St. Paisiy showed that a Christian of the 18th century can have an experience of the grace of God, enter into communion with Him in synergy, and have all supernatural divine gifts, achieving direct communion with God. By his personal spiritual experience, he proved that hesychasm is a universal, catholic Orthodox mystical practice, equally characteristic of both the Egyptian fathers of the fourth century and the ascetics of the fourteenth century, it was also available in the 18th century for those seeking knowledge of the truth.