Striving Toward God: Spiritual Advice for Daily Living - Softcover

"Only when our life is wholly directed towards God do we become capable of seeing God in all and begin to do so by faith not only in all the significant happenings of life but even in the insignificant ones and to submit entirely to His holy will." The 19th century saw a renaissance of Russian spirituality in the writings of St Ignatius (Brianchaninov) and St Theophan the Recluse, many of whose works have become well-known throughout the world. This book brings to an English-speaking audience the spiritual counsels of another Russian monastic of the same period. Born into a patrician family in the Don region, Anna Mikhailovna Sebriakova forsake the world at the age of seventeen and joined the Ust'-Medveditskii convent, where she was tonsured a nun with the name Arsenia. She subsequently served as abbess of this same monastery for 41 years. Heavily influenced by the writings of St ignatius, she took up correspondence with his brother P.A. Brianchaninov and became his spiritual mentor. Her letters to Peter Alexandrovich form the bulk of this book. Also offered are a selection of her personal notes and letters to other individuals. Abbess Arsenia's counsels are steeped in Holy Scripture and in the inspiration that she draws from the services of the Orthodox Church. Throughout, she emphasizes the need to humble oneself, discern the will of God, and fulfill it through every moment of our life.

Abbess Arsenia (born Anna Mikhailovna Sebriakova) was the long-tenured superior of the Transfiuguration Monastery, serving for over 45 years in that position during the second half of the 19th century. Mary Naumenko has been involved in parish ministry for thirty-five years together with her husband who is a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church. She is the translator of two books of spiritual counsel from Russian into English: Letters to Spiritual Children (Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society) and Striving Toward God: Spiritual Advice for Daily Living (Holy Trinity Publications) as well as the author of five books in the Lives of Saints for Young People series published by Holy Trinity Monastery. She earned an M.A. in Humanities through The Great Books Honors College at Faulkner University (Montgomery, AL). Her Master's thesis on the patristic concept of the nous in the writings of Dostoevsky provided the initial impetus for this book.