Father Sergius

Behind the walls of a monastery lies not peace, but turmoil—spiritual, emotional, and deeply human. In Father Sergius, Leo Tolstoy tells the story of Prince Stepan Kasatsky, a proud and ambitious aristocrat whose life is upended by betrayal. Renouncing the world, he becomes the monk Father Sergius, seeking holiness and escape from temptation. But even in seclusion, he cannot escape the struggles of the soul. As fame and reverence grow around him, so too does his inner torment—until a final, humbling encounter forces him to confront the truth of who he really is. A profound meditation on ego, pride, temptation, and the illusion of sainthood, Father Sergius is one of Tolstoy’s most spiritually charged and psychologically complex works. It asks timeless questions about the nature of faith, the search for meaning, and the quiet heroism of inner transformation.