This book was so popular and beneficial for those leading a spiritual life in pre-Revolutionary Russia that it was reprinted several times and distributed to all monasteries, sketes, and many parishes. It was a main guidebook for female monastic aspirants, giving them a right understanding of how to dedicate their lives to God.

By reading Abbess Thaisia's letters on spiritual life with a discerning eye--not relegating the principles in them solely to the realm of monastic experience--they can be soberly used among the spiritually struggling people of our modern urban society, enriching them with a prayerful life, their feet firmly planted on earth and their hearts abiding in heaven.

We are all truly novices and beginners...we can all benefit from these instructions by the spiritual daughter of St. John of Kronstadt, who offers the principles of adjusting one's soul to the discipline of living, first of all, a "life in Christ." The lyrical narrative of these letters by a spiritual heroine for the 20th century lifts the reader to spiritual heights.