About the book: 2012 / Before us is a collection of non-fictional stories by the writer N.A. Pavlova, author of the famous book “Red Easter” about the three Optina brothers killed on Easter 1993. These are truly notes from an eyewitness, for since 1988 the author has been constantly living near the Optina Monastery, settling near the walls of the monastery at a time when the holy monastery was still in ruins and people from big cities moved here to work on the restoration of Optina. In a word, these are the author’s personal memories of those times when Optina Pustyn was reborn from the ruins and the souls of people were reborn. This is a book about Russia or the history of Orthodoxy in persons.