Before he became Patriarch of Moscow and a Saint revered for his courage and pastoral wisdom, Tikhon (Bellavin) was a young professor at the Kholm Theological Seminary, quietly shaping his thought in the final years of the Russian Empire. Between 1895 and 1897, he composed essays exploring asceticism, Christian fasting, vegetarianism, and the spiritual life-works that reveal the intellectual rigor and pastoral sensitivity of the man who would later shepherd the Russian Church through revolution and persecution.

This volume presents three of those writings in English for the first time: Vegetarianism and Its Difference from Christian Fasting, On the Face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and On Asceticism. Readers encounter a theology that is practical, disciplined, and profoundly humane-offering guidance for daily life while illuminating the heart of a man whose sanctity would later be proven through suffering and witness.

Accessible, faithful to the original texts, and enriched by historical context, The Moral Theology of St. Tikhon allows modern readers to engage with the mind of a theologian, the heart of a pastor, and the enduring witness of a saint whose words continue to inspire.