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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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The Anti-Humans and the Re-Education Experiment
Originally published in Death to the World Issue 12 The Anti-Humans and the Re-Education Experiment Between 1944-1945, Communism took over the Christian country of Romania. An experiment of terror was performed on the young generation, on students from the age of eighteen to twenty five. Among those students was a man who is alive today after surviving sixteen years in the anti-human communist prison system. His name is Father George Calciu. After His release from prison, he was exiled to America in 1984. Below follows part of an interview by Nun Nina from this year. (1998) Nun Nina: This may be more difficult for you to talk about – I…
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Martyr Yevgeny Rodionov
Martyr Yevgeny When he was 11 years old, Yevgeny Rodionov received from his grandmother a little cross on a chain. He wanted to wear it to school, but his mother, a devout atheist, warned him against it, since the communist authorities frowned on such things. Yevgeny wore it anyway and refused to ever take it off. When Yevgeny grew, up he enlisted as a soldier in the Russian army. When he was 19, he was violently taken hostage by Muslim Chechen rebels. They kept him hanging by his wrists in a basement. He was left days without food and was severely beaten. He did not take off his cross even…
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In Spirit and Truth (Issue 13)
A Homily by Archpriest Micheal Reagan Originally published in Issue 13, 2006 In Spirit and Truth To the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus said that “the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”. From this passage it is clear that there is such a thing as “true worship” which is decided by God and not by man. But what is true worship? Is there such a thing as false worship? If the ancient…
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Raising the Mind, Warming the Heart
By Blessed Seraphim Rose of Platina Raising the Mind, Warming the Heart 1. Faith and Reason The writings of the Russian philosopher Ivan Kireyevsky contain some basic ideas which are very apropos for us today. The usual argument between faith and reason, he wrote, is not correct. Reason is such a thing that it must be raised up to a higher level, and this is what the Orthodox Church tries to give. By itself, reason does not offer any more than an understanding of this two-dimensional, corporeal realm, with which most of the critics and scholars of the West are occupying themselves. There is something, however, above this. According to…
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The Sacrament (Mystery) of Christian Baptism
by St Cyprian of Carthage. From a Letter written to a new convert, 246 A.D. I promise to share with you the grace God in His great mercy has shown me, and to tell you as simply as I can what I have experienced since I was baptized. Until that time, I was still living in the dark, knowing nothing of my true life. I was completely involved in this world’s affairs, influenced by all its changing moods and troubles, and exiled from the light of truth. I had indeed been told that God offered men and women a second birth, by which we could be saved, but I very…
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On Forming the Soul
By Blessed Fr. Seraphim of Platina The soul that comes to Orthodoxy today often finds itself in a disadvantaged or even crippled state. Often one hears from converts after some years of seemingly unfruitful struggles that “I didn’t know what I was getting into when I became Orthodox.” Some sense this when they are first exposed to the Orthodox Faith, and this can cause them to postpone their encounter with Orthodoxy or even run away from it entirely. A similar thing often happens to those baptized in childhood when they reach mature years and must choose whether or not to commit themselves to their childhood faith. From one point of…
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The Orthodox Worldview
By Blessed Hieromonk St. Seraphim Rose Before beginning my talk, a word or two on why it is important to have an Orthodox world-view, and why it is more difficult to build one today than in past centuries. In past centuries—for example, in 19th century Russia—the Orthodox world-view was an important part of Orthodox life and was supported by the life around it. There was no need even to speak of it as a separate thing—you lived Orthodoxy in harmony with the Orthodox society around you, and you had an Orthodox world-view provided by the Church and society. In many countries the government itself confessed Orthodoxy; it was the center…
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Death to the World (Issue 1)
The last true rebellion is death to the world. To be crucified to the world and the world to us. With the seed of dissatisfaction deeply planted in the heart of today’s society, rebellion has been a small key to unlock the doors of change. But the rebellion that the world has known is not the fullness of true rebellion. Since our times have come to a point where things can’t get much worse, the few remaining lovers of truth must search deeper into themselves and deeper into the truth itself — but to get to this point a revolution must take place. A revolution in the hearts of these…
