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    The Lamp-stand of America

    Eugene Rose was born into a typical middle-class American family in San Diego in 1934. Like many young Americans, the materialistic attitude of the society that surrounded him did not satisfy his soul and an intense hunger and quest for truth began to arise from somewhere deep inside of him. The gnawing question of “what is truth?” began to completely consume him around the time that he graduated from high school. For the rest of his life, Eugene sought truth at all costs.             He rejected the “Christianity” of America, which he regarded as worldly, weak, and fake. To him, it seemed that this modern Christianity put God in a box…

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    Saint Nicholas “the Turk,” of Optina Skete (1893)

    Saint Nikolai of Optina was born by the name Yusuf Abdul. He was born in Asia Minor in 1827 or 1828, in the largely-Armenian village of Baghaghesh, to impoverished parents of noble lineage, who weaved cloth for a living. He was the eldest of three, having a younger brother and a younger sister. When he came of age, he travelled to Trebizond and then to Istanbul where he made the acquaintance of the vizier, and then to Sivas, where he came to serve in the Ottoman Army. His regimental commander was pleased with him and he served there as an officer of the guard, attaining the rank of captain. He…

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    The Simple Shepherd Of The Simple Sheep

    It is necessary today, living in an age of distraction and materialistic stupor, that we become acquainted with holy persons that struggled against the same onslaughts our modern age brings upon the soul. These persons are a testimony to the living sanctity of Truth–that victorious war can be waged against this world’s poison. One such personality is “Papa” (Father) Nicholas Planas. + LIFE OF ST. NICHOLAS PLANAS (1851-1932) Commemorated March 2nd HIS BIRTH. He was born in Naxos in 1851. His parents, captain John and Augustina, were quite well off but were also good people, with the simple and pure soul which distinguishes island people. They had their own estate,…

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    In Step With Saints Patrick and Gregory of Tours

    A homily given by Fr Seraphim Rose on St Patrick’s feast day in 1977. Fr Seraphim, being an avid venerator of the Western Saints pre-schism, reveals his down to earth approach to the spiritual life and offers a breath of fresh are for so many of us to today who are struggling toward the Heavenly Realm. 1. A PERSPECTIVE ON ST. PATRICK THE CONFESSION OF ST. PATRICK is a very simple document about how he planned to serve God and a few of the trials and sufferings he went through. From what St. Patrick writes, we see that in his lifetime he did not have the universal glory that surrounds him…

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    The Sacrifice of Nicola Yanney

    I have always felt that only God truly knows who the saints are until He chooses to reveal them to us, but how does this happen? One way that this happens is through local veneration, which attracts the attention of the regional church. It is my hope that Fr. Nicola Yanney of Nebraska will soon be glorified in this manner. I have a very close relationship with Fr. Nicola. I first heard about him after my godfather had returned from a visit to Fr. Nicola’s church in Kearney, Nebraska. He later took me on a small pilgrimage to Kearney as well. I can still recall the great joy in my…

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    St. Moses the Black of Scete

    Commemorated August 28th. Saint Moses Murin the Black lived during the fourth century in Egypt. He was an Ethiopian, and he was black of skin and therefore called “Murin” (meaning “like an Ethiopian”). In his youth he was the slave of an important man, but after he committed a murder, his master banished him, and he joined a band of robbers. Because of his bad character and great physical strength they chose him as their leader. Moses and his band of brigands did many evil deeds, both murders and robberies. People were afraid at the mere mention of his name. Moses the brigand spent several years leading a sinful life,…

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    Holy New Martyrs of Optina

    From Issue 19 In 1917, the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism resulted in the deaths of millions of believers and destroyed countless churches and monasteries. Optina monastery, once the center of true spirituality for the entire region, was initially spared… but not for long. In 1938 the last Abbot was executed by the communists and the Monastery was shut down. It’s lands were taken by peasant farmers and it’s beautiful cathedral turned into a state museum. It stood silently decaying, awaiting it’s own resurrection. Just before the fall of communism, Optina was returned to the Church, and many of its former starets were glorified officially as Saints. The…

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    Saint Feofil of the Kiev Caves

    From Issue #23 Here we re-print the life of a lover of truth that has become known as the Patron of lost things. Today, more than a hundred years after his death, he finds us, the lost ones, from the life he attained beyond the grave, pulls us out of the dark mire of our society and truly shows us what it is mean to be dead to the world. In October 1788, twin boys were born to Andrei and Evfrosiniya Gorenkovsky in the town of Makhnovo near Kyiv. The oldest of them was named Foma and the younger was named Kalliniky. From his infancy, Foma began to display unusual…

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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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    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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    Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim Rose

    Father Seraphim was born into a typical white middle class Protestant family in San Diego in 1934. While growing up, he was the proverbial dutiful child and academic achiever. After high school, however, he began to passionately seek the answer to the question “Why?”–and, not finding it in the society in which he had been raised, he began to rebel. He refused to accept the accepted answers. This was at the very beginning of the modern counterculture, the early 1950’s. Father Seraphim became a student of one of the counterculture’s first pioneers, Alan Watts (whom he realized later was totally pseudo) and became a Buddhist Bohemian in San Francisco. He…