http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?page=28143
The FSS conveys elder Nikon’s letters to the Optina Hermitage
The RF FSS for Kaluga region conveyed 40 documents to the Optina Hermitage. Bashir Hashegulnov, FSS deputy head for Kaluga region, handed letters of the last Optina elder Nikon (Beliaev) to Archimandrite Benedict, Father Superior of the Optina Hermitage.
The documents were founded in the FSS archives. On Archimandrite Benedict’s request, they were searched for over two years. 1 850 documents and photographs were conveyed to the monastery, many of them were considered to be lost. Over 200 documents are prepared for publication. The letters will be published in a new edition of elder’s life story in spring 2006.