Father Sergius

Father Sergius is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy between 1890 and 1898 and published posthumously in 1911. It follows Prince Stepan Kasatsky, a gifted young man apparently destined for greatness, whose pride is shattered on the eve of his wedding when he learns that his fiancée, Countess Mary Korotkova, has had an affair with the Tsar, Nicholas I, whom he deeply admired. Wounded in his self-esteem, Kasatsky turns to the Russian Orthodox Church and becomes a monk.

The years that follow are marked by humility and doubt. Under orders from the senior clergy he becomes a hermit, yet his former fame and the dramatic change in his life keep him in people's memory. One winter night a group of women arrives to visit him, and one of them, Makovkina, a divorced woman, spends the night in his cell and tries to seduce him. Sergius realizes he is still weak and, as a punishment, cuts off one of his fingers. The act deeply moves her, and she vows to change her life and eventually enters a convent.

Meanwhile the monk's reputation grows: people regard him as a healer, and pilgrims come from far and wide. Sergius, however, knows he does not truly possess Christian faith; the monastery bores him, and pride and lust torment him. He falls again when the young daughter of a merchant succeeds in seducing him. The next morning he leaves the monastery and seeks out his cousin Pashenka, whom he had mistreated in his youth. He finds her a failure by conventional standards yet devoted to serving her family, and this image makes his path clear to him. After months of wandering he is arrested and exiled to Siberia, where he works for a prosperous peasant.