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    Holy Women of the Northern Thebaid (Part I)

    “Let women keep silence in the churches.” 1 Cor. 14:34 Away from the tumult and noise of this world, in quiet monastic refuges, in deserted landscapes which evoke thoughts of eternity, women of Holy Russia worked out their salvation for a thousand years, striving to acquire first of all humility of wisdom. The spiritual fragrance of this key virtue in Patristic Orthodoxy, that of humility of wisdom, which is the joining together of humility and wisdom, has always been very close to true Orthodox women, and especially to the women Saints. Behind them there always shines forth the humble image of Her Who is the first Abbess of all monastics,…

  • Articles,  Holy Mothers,  Issues 13-24,  Lives,  Zine Articles

    The Life of the Holy Theotokos: Whom the Grave Could Not Contain.

    The Theotokos (God-Bearer) was born of the elderly Joachim and Anna as an answer to their prayers. After being humiliated and run out of the Temple, Joachim stood in prayer and fasting, in the same cave as once did Elijah the Prophet, begging God to give him and his barren wife a child. In their garden, Anna stood in prayer also, fervently asking God to take away her sorrow. An angel appeared to them both telling them of the great mystery that would be given to them, a daughter who would bear the Life of the World. Joachim and Anna made a promise that they would give the child back…

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    Saint Febronia: Beauty Bathed in Blood

    The following is a true account of a woman who gave her life for the sake of truth and for God. On the 25th of June in the year 305 AD this woman suffered the greatest torture ever imaginable and this we warn the reader that what they are about to experience might be shocking or upsetting. Please understand that those who love the truth don’t fear what people will do to their flesh for their faith. After reading this account one cannot help but understand and feel that in truth there is a living and loving soul within our flesh that desires freedom, a freedom that only God can…

  • Articles,  Holy Mothers,  Issues 13-24,  Lives

    The Nuns of Shamordino: Prisoners of Solovki

    The Nuns of Shamordino Printed in Issue 22 Upon him who labors— God sheds mercy; but he who loves acquires consolation.        Elder Ambrose of Optina In the summer of 1929 there came to Solovki about thirty nuns. Probably the majority of them were from the monastery of Shamordino, which was near the renowned Optina Hermitage. The nuns were not placed in the common women’s quarters, but were kept separately. When they began to be checked according to the list and interrogated, they refused to give the so-called basic facts about themselves, that is, to answer questions about their surnames, year and place of birth, education, and so forth. After…

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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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    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…