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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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    An American Saint Faces the Communists

    Bishop Barnabas (Varnava Nastich), was born in Gary, Indiana in 1914. In the nine years he lived there, he gained an outstanding appreciation for our love of freedom. Eventually, he moved to Serbia, from where his parents had come. In Serbia, St. Barnabas worked diligently against the Communists regime and was eventually brought to trial in spite of his position in the Orthodox Church. Here is part of the transcript of his interrogation for allegedly spying for the United States. Try to imagine yourself in the courtroom. ‘Q. What do you have to say? A. All your accusations are inventions and false. I tell you, I am not afraid. You may kill me,…

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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…

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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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    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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    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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    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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    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.…