Venerable Anatole II of Optina

Life and Monastic Path

Alexander Potapov was born on February 15, 1855, in Moscow to a merchant family. He attended district school and worked as a clerk in Kaluga before turning to monastic life. His mother would not give her blessing for him to become a monk, and so he entered the monastery only after her death.

He entered Optina Monastery in 1885, was made a novice in 1888, and was tonsured a monk with the name Anatole in 1895. He was ordained a deacon in 1906. For many years he served as cell-attendant to Saint Ambrose of Optina in the Skete.

After the death of Saint Ambrose, Anatole took up the labor of an elder despite remaining only a deacon. There were always crowds of visitors at his cell, and he received them constantly, sleeping very little. He was remembered as always very kind and ready to help anyone who came to him. In 1921, while severely weakened, he received the Great Schema.

Persecution and Repose

In the early 1920s Anatole suffered persecution from Red Army soldiers. He was scheduled to be arrested on July 22, 1922, but asked for time to prepare himself. He died during the night of July 22–23, 1922, before he could be apprehended, and the soldiers found him in his coffin the next morning.

Glorification, Relics & Shrines

Local veneration of Anatole was authorized by the Moscow Patriarchate on June 13, 1996. His relics were uncovered on June 24 / July 7, 1998, and he was glorified for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.

His relics rest in the church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God at Optina Pustyn. He is commemorated annually on July 30.

Miracles & Traditions

Historically Documented: It is related that Anatole once blessed a desperate man whose family had been left homeless, telling him that he would move into a new home in three days, which then came to pass.