Fr John Valadez
Fr John Valadez is an artist, writer, and editor for Death to the World. Being part of the 'zines original resurrection in 2006, he has helped out at festivals, events, and seen Death to the World grow.
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Elder Nikolai Guryanov
Elder Nikolai With a deep love for God and the Heavenly Queen, a monk once asked in his sincere prayer, “show me what mortal in our sinful world lives like the Holy Fathers and what struggler pleases Thee in his love for Thee and his neighbor.” After his prayer the Heavenly Queen appeared to him, pointing directly to the Island of Zalit, where the spirit filled Elder Nikolai lived. “Go there immediately,” She said, “do not waste time.” The words She spoke to him entered so clearly into his heart that he was able to write them down after this vision. This is what the Mother of God told him:…
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Exorcisms in Russia: From an Eyewitness
By Nun Cornelia Originally Printed in Issue 6, 1995 No Orthodox Christian in Russia doubts the existence of Demons, and that they wage brutal war against people. Neither do they doubt that Christ is stronger than demons; that He has won the war and continues to conquer. Why are they so sure? Because they see it with their own eyes. They see the pitiful victims of demonic possession who come to church to find relief but are tormented by the demons for doing so. Anywhere we go in the world we can see the result of diabolical hatred—violence, lewdness, profanity, coldness of heart—however, we fail to see the cause. But…
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St. Nino: Enlightener of Georgia
The virgin Nino of Cappadocia was a relative of Great-martyr George and the only daughter of a widely respected and honorable couple. Her father was a Roman army chief by the name of Zabulon, and her mother, Sosana, was the sister of Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem. When Nino reached the age of twelve, her parents sold all their possessions and moved to Jerusalem. Soon after, Nino’s father was tonsured a monk. He bid farewell to his family and went to labor in the wilderness of the Jordan. After Sosana had been separated from her husband, Patriarch Juvenal ordained her a deaconess. She left Nino in the care of an old…
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St. Peter the Aleut
Saint Peter: The First American Born Martyr The holy martyr Peter the Aleut (or Cungagnaq in his native tongue) was a native aleut of Kodiak Island, Alaska. When missionaries came from Russia, the Aleutians were baptized by the hundreds, and at baptism he was given the name Peter. St. Peter is believed to have been baptized by Saint Herman himself, since he knew the Holy Saint personally. In 1815 a group of Aleut seal and otter hunters, including Peter, were captured by Spanish sailors while on an excursion near fort Ross. The Roman Catholics took them to Mission Dolores in San Francisco for interrogation, as they were angry with the…
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“Take, Eat”
An Examination of Aztec Human Sacrifice and Cannibalism By John Valadez Note: This article was written to examine the similarities between Aztec Cannibalism and the Eucharist. However, it was not written for the intention of equating the Holy Body of Jesus Christ to the rituals of the Aztecs by these similarities, but rather an investigation of how the Aztecs might have come to know the Divine Mystery through a ritual that was central to their life and culture. Just as the Orthodox missionaries in Alaska investigated the pagan rituals of the natives in order to bring them to Christ and His Church, so this article attempts to do the same. Introduction In…
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Death Is Unnatural
+Saint Nikolai Velimirovic Originally printed in Issue 18. Death is not natural; rather it is unnatural. And death is not from nature; rather it is against nature. All of nature cries out: “I do not know death! I do not wish death! I am afraid of death! I strive against death!” Death is an uninvited stranger to nature. All of nature bristles at this uninvited stranger and is afraid of it because it is like a thief in somebody else’s garden who does not just steal and eat the fruit, but also who tramples, spoils, breaks and uproots what is planted and the more it ravages, the more it becomes…
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Step Into the Skies
A documentary about Valaam Monastery.
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Elder Michael the Blind
Michael was born in 1877 in the country of Latvia. He had hardly reached the age of one and a half when his mother died; and when he was six, his father died also. He lived a sorrowful life as an orphan, and thus his childhood was not worth remembering. Later he would never talk about it, thus there is little known. It took him a while to act on his resolve, but when he was in his teen he made the decision to become a monk. His relatives tried to talk him out of it, telling him to get a job and make a successful materialistic life for himself.…
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Saint Mary: The Desert Dweller
By Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem. It is good to hide the secret of a king, but it is glorious to reveal and preach the works of God” (Tobit 12:7) So said the Archangel Raphael to Tobit when he performed the wonderful healing of his blindness. Actually, not to keep the secret of a king is perilous and a terrible risk, but to be silent about the works of God is a great loss for the soul. And I, in writing the life of St. Mary of Egypt, am afraid to hide the works of God by silence. Remembering the misfortune threatened to the servant who hid his God-given talent in…
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St. Xenia: The Homeless Wanderer
We know almost nothing about the early years of Blessed Xenia’s life. She was happily married to a colonel who was a court singer in St. Petersburg, Russia’s capital city at that time, and we can assume that her’ own family was among the well-to-do. She was only 26 years old when her husband suddenly died at a drinking party. Xenia loved her husband very much and his unexpected death came as a great shock, It completely changed her way of looking at life. Knowing that her husband had not prepared himself for death and that he had died without the prayers of the Church, she began to be very…
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