As a young child, he assimilated the spirit of prayer from his nanny, who would take him with her to church and he would pray for up to three quarters of an hour at a time.

Due to great artistic talent, Sakharov studied at the Academy of Arts between 1915 and 1917, and then at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture between 1920 and 1921.

It was around the time of his study at the Moscow School that Sakharov would see Christianity's focus on personal love as being necessarily finite; he fell away from the Orthodoxy of his youth and delved into Indian mystical religions based on the impersonal Absolute.

He experienced Uncreated Light (in a strength unmatched to the end of his life) and as a result distanced himself from his art.

In 1925, finding formal theological study to be unfulfilling, Sakharov left the institute and Paris for Mount Athos.

In 1926 Sakharov arrived at Mount Athos, entering the Monastery of St Panteleimon, desiring to learn how to pray and have the right attitude toward God.

One of Sophrony's critics was Georges Florovsky, who attacked his concept of "Theological Confession" through his critique of Lossky's understanding of antinomy as the criterion of piety.

World War II was a time of such intense prayer that Sophrony's health was affected, teaching him the interdependence of all mankind.

Sophrony settled in Russian House, an old-age home, in St Genevieve-des-Bois, assisting the priest and acting as father confessor.

In it, Sophrony outlined Silouan's principles of theology, and explained many fundamental concepts (prayer for the whole world, God-forsakenness and the idea of all humanity being connected).

In 1950 Sophrony worked with Vladimir Lossky on the Messager de l'Exarchat du Patriarche Russe en Europe Occidentale until 1957.

In 1959 the Community of St John the Baptist was formed at Tolleshunt Knights under Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh.

[10] This writer cited Sophrony's influence on a number of Russian thinkers, particularly his philosophy of "the knowing heart", which was contrasted to the "self-aware thinking mind in Hegel".