16,951
edits
Changes
m
link
The Elder Nectarius was born in the city of Yelets in the Orel province, the son of Basil and Elena Tikhonov. He was given the name Nicholas at his [[baptism]]. The year of his birth is uncertain, variously given as 1853, 1857, or 1858. His father worked in a mill and died when Nicholas was seven years old. Nicholas was close to his mother, who raised him in a strict, but loving manner. She arranged for him to work in a shop of a merchant where by the age of seventeen he was the youngest steward. His mother also died while he was still young, leaving him an orphan.
At the time Schema-Nun Theoctista, a spiritual daughter of St. [[Tikhon of Zadonsk]] lived in Yelets and was a popular advisor to the people of town. Anticipating a marriage of Nicholas to his daughter of one of his workers, the merchant advised Nicholas go to the nun for a blessing. This he did. But instead of marriage, the Schema-nun advised him to go to Optina Monastery to see Fr. [[Hiiarion Hilarion of Optina| HiiarionHilarion]]. Nicholas followed her advise and arrived at Optina in 1876 with only a copy of the [[Gospel]] in his knapsack.
After meeting the superior of the skete, Fr. Hilarion, he was sent to the Elder [[Ambrose of Optina| Ambrose]] who saw Nicholas immediately and spoke with him for two hours. Following their conversation, Nicholas remained in the [[skete]] and never returned home. For the next twenty years he was the [[disciple]] of his spiritual father Anatolius (Zertsalov) although at times he sought the counsel of the Elder Ambrose. These elders led Nicholas along the strict path of [[monasticism]].