The Philokalia is a classic of Orthodox spirituality, composed of the collected works of a number of Church Fathers which were edited and placed in a four volume set in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In his works, a persistent theme was developing an interior life of continuous prayer[4] and learning to "pray without ceasing" as St. Paul teaches in his first letter to the Thessalonians.

At the time, Archimandrite Isidore (Nikolsky) was the rector of the seminary, the philosophical sciences were taught by Evfimy Ostromyslensky and the literature teacher was Hieromonk Platon (Gorodetsky), later Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia.

The seminary bulletin noted that Govorov was distinguished by "a penchant for solitude; edifying in his treatment of comrades; sets an example of diligence and good morals; meek and silent."

In 1841, Hieromonk Theophan was among the first to graduate from the Academy with a master's degree in theology for a course essay "Review of Sublaw Religion" (Обозрение подзаконной религии), which, being found among the best works, was sent to the Most Holy Synod.

Metropolitan Philaret Drozdov of Moscow, a permanent member of the Most Holy Synod, stated in his review: "This work contains so much information and considerations about the law of Moses that they serve as sufficient evidence of the knowledge of the writer, giving him the right to a master's degree."

Immediately after graduating from the Academy, Theophan was appointed rector of the Kiev-Sofia Theological College, where he began to teach Latin.

At this time, he was interested a solitary monastic life; in a letter to his spiritual father Jeremiah, who tonsured and ordained him, he wrote: "I am beginning to be burdened by my academic position to the point of unbearability.

On August 21, 1847, at his request, he was appointed as a member of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, headed by Archimandrite Porphyrius (Uspensky).

In Palestine, he became acquainted with the ancient asceticism of the Eastern monasteries and the monuments of ascetic writing of the past centuries.

The return took place through Western Europe; Theophan visited many cities, churches, museums, libraries, and educational institutions.

Upon his return to Russia, he was appointed a teacher of canon law at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy; on April 14, 1855, he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite.

On May 21, 1856, he was appointed rector of the Russian embassy church in Constantinople (Ottoman Empire), as he was well acquainted with the Orthodox East.

In addition to the rector's office, he was entrusted with overseeing the teaching of the Law of God in secular educational institutions of the St. Petersburg district.

The Tambov diocese was one of the most extensive and popular; there were 1,172 priests, 681 deacons, several hundred monastics, and many sectarians and Old Believers among the population.

Bishop Theophan and the clergy were convinced, as they stated, "that preaching is his first, direct and sacred duty, and at the same time should be an internal need, if only to properly and consciously treat his high ministry".