A practice of hesychasm in the circles of Siberian convicts

This article offers an analytical reading of *My Missions in Siberia*, the memoirs of Archimandrite Spiridon published in Russia in 1917 and translated into French in 1950, through which Michel Evdokimov traces the spiritual journey of a self-taught missionary monk who exercised his ministry in Siberian prison camps between 1896 and 1906. The study follows two complementary axes: the spiritual formation of Spiridon, shaped by charismatic figures drawn from Russian popular piety and by a mystical sensitivity to the divine presence in creation; and his pastoral work among some 25,000 convicts, founded on confession, preaching, and a radical compassion toward the most hardened criminals. The article demonstrates that this practice is rooted in the hesychast tradition and refutes the notion of an opposition between contemplative interiority and engagement with the world. It also highlights the critical, ecumenical, and literary dimensions of the work, situating it in continuity with Dostoevsky and the Russian spirituality of the nineteenth century.