"I do not who or what I was before my birth on earth. I appeared here in 1875. My parents were poor peasants. I do not remember a thing about the first three years of my life; from the time I was four up to the present moment, I remember absolutely everything." This is the beginning of a classic work of Russian spirituality, a book contemporary with Tales of a Russian Pilgrim. With a descriptive, spontaneous style, monk, preacher, and missionary Spiridon leads the reader into a seemingly unreal world, both because of what is told and because of the deep humanness behind each one of his memories. After telling the story of his childhood and his young years in the first part of the book, Spiridon remembers the experiences of his mission in Siberia. The result is an enticing yet wounding work, where beyond the character's weaknesses, love and mercy always triumph.