Joseph of Optina

Venerable Joseph of Optina (in the world Ivan Efimovich Litovkin, 1837-1911) was a hieroschemamonk and elder at the Optina Monastery, disciple and cell attendant of Venerable Ambrose, and one of the fourteen venerable elders of Optina. He was venerated locally in 1996 and glorified for veneration throughout the Church in August 2000. He is commemorated on 9 May, the day of his repose, and in the synaxis of the Optina elders.

Youth

He was born on 2 (14) November 1837 in the village of Gorodishche, Kharkiv province, to Efimy Emelyanovich, the village headman. He was the second son of six children and was named for Saint John the Merciful, his parents' favourite saint. His father died when he was four, and his mother, Maria Vasilievna, when he was eleven. His elder sister Alexandra, later a nun with the name Leonida, taught him to read and write. Left without inheritance, he worked early, first in a tavern, then in a grocery shop.

In 1861 he wished to go on pilgrimage to Kiev, but his nun sister urged him to go to Optina. There, after meeting and speaking with Elder Ambrose, he decided to stay. He became Ambrose's spiritual son and cell attendant. He began with the obedience of assistant cook at the skete, and soon he was appointed to the elder's cell.

Monastic life and eldership

He was tonsured a rassophore in 1864, with the name John, and in 1872 into the mantle, with the name Joseph, in honour of Saint Joseph the Hymnographer. In 1877 he was ordained hierodeacon, then hieromonk. In February 1888 he fell gravely ill and, expecting death, was tonsured into the schema; after recovering he was named assistant to Elder Ambrose. After the death of Venerable Ambrose, in 1891, he was, with Elder Anatoly, confessor of the Shamordino convent. At the end of 1893, when the head of the skete and confessor of the community, Venerable Anatoly, fell ill, the confessorship passed to Joseph, and in January 1894, after the death of Venerable Anatoly, he was appointed head of the skete.

On the third day of Pascha 1911 he fell ill and fell asleep on 9 (22) May 1911, at forty-⁠five minutes past ten. His relics were found on 16 October 1988. In 1996 he was numbered among the locally venerated saints of Optina, and in August 2000 the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified him for veneration throughout the Church. His holy relics rest in the Vladimir church of the Optina Monastery.