The Lost Autograph of the Second Epistle of St. Paisius Velichkovsky to Theodosius

The article analyses a rare source of the manuscript legacy of St. Paisius Velichkovsky. The autograph of the Second Epistle to Theodosius, dispatched to the Sofroniev Monastery, was discovered in the collection of E. V. Barsov. This Epistle is an important text for the reconstruction of the Athos period of the life of St. Paisius. The research is focused on the pattern of the convolution with the autograph entwined into it, on the analysis of the owners’ records tracing the relocations of the manuscript, and on the source of the fi rst publication of the Second Epistle.