"retreat"

[Svitlana Kobets]

Dear Natalie,

I wrote what came to mind regarding terminology that I know. Russian and
Ukrainian Orthodox Christianities are certainly distinct, no doubt about
that. I was writing about Russian tradition. By the way, I never studied
this aspect of Orthodox Christianity, yet it is of interest to me.
As to the paradigm of wandering monks, it is certainly universal. By the
way, this paradigm had a certain (I might even say substantial) resonance in
Russian Orthodox tradition. The "Tale of the Pilgrim, the seeker after the
truth" is perhaps one of the best known textualizations of the quest of the
pilgrim-learner. At the same time, "Father Sergius" at the end of the story
becomes a wondering teacher. Tolstoi was quite impressed by Skovoroda, his
lifestyle, his teachings.
Another by the by: Valerii Shevchuk's stories, novellas, novels are very
densely populated by Ukrainian Orthodox wondering monks, lots of them are
quite learned. "Oko prirvy" is my favourite. There is a group of pilgrims,
all of whom represent different religious types.

I've never heard about *rekolekciji*, I would love to learn more.

Best,
Svitlana

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