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A '''geronda''' (Greek) or '''staretz''' (Russian) (both literally meaning ''elder'') is a holy person gifted with the [[charism]] of spiritual direction, often a [[monk]] or [[hermit ]] (not necessarily a [[priest]]), in the Church. The plural of the Russian form is ''startsy''. [ Russian, elder, starets, from Old Church Slavonic ''starĭtsĭ'', elder, from ''starŭ'', old.] Other forms include ''geronta'' and ''stareţ''; ''gerondissa'' or ''gerontissa'' for women.