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The Opening of the Senses
By Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov Printed in Issue 6* PEOPLE become capable of seeing spirits by a certain alteration of the senses, which is accomplished in a way that is unnoticeable and inexplicable to a person. He only notes in himself that he has suddenly begun to see what before this he had not seen and what others do not see, and to hear what before this he had not heard. For those who experience in themselves such and alteration of the senses, it is very simple and natural, even though not explainable to oneself and to others; to those who have not experienced it, it is strange and not understandable….…
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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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Overdose
From Issue 4 part one: Monk Ephraim In the year of 1425 a monk was taken captive and tortured to death in his monastery in Greece for being a Christian. He was slowly tortured to death over a period of a year. After each episode his wounds were allowed to heal, and then he was subjected tonew and worse punishments. Finally they executed him. He was hung upside down from a tree in his monastery groundsand run through with a pole which had been sharpened to a point and set on fire. All traces of his life and martyrdom were forgotten until this century, when he appeared to the abbess…
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Through Closed Doors
From Issue 8 In may of 1980, the singer /poet Ian Curtis of Joy Division hung himself in his Manchester, England home the day before he was to depart for their big U.S. tour. On the same day in Washington State, Mt. St. Helen’s erupted, and a young man prepared for high school graduation, and the turmoil that his life would soon become… The day after graduation, I left for San Jose, seeking the skateboard meccas of Northern California. Through previous trips, I had my first exposure to the San Francisco punk scene. There in a Holiday Inn on San Carlos Blvd., I cut my hair and went “punk.”…
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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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What Saint John Taught Me…
By an Orthodox Subdeacon From Issue 16 This article was written by a subdeacon who had the blessing of serving with Saint John as a child as well as having the Saint as a family friend and mentor. These are his reflections, looking back at the greatest things Saint John revealed to him about the spiritual life. I look down from my perch in the choir loft, the cathedral is spread before me like a map. From the chandeliers above to the lit candles, everything is a sea of light. People still returning from the Cross Procession, candles in hand, only add to the radiance. With the start of the Orthros Service,…
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A Letter to Thomas Merton
By Fr. Seraphim Rose I am a young American convert to Russian Orthodoxy—not the vague “liberal” spirituality of too many modern Russian “religious thinkers,” but the full ascetic and contemplative Orthodoxy of the Fathers and Saints—who have for some years been studying the spiritual “crisis” of our time, and am at present writing a book on the subject. [1] In the course of my study I have had occasion to read the works of a great number of Roman Catholic authors, some of which (those, for example, of Pieper, Picard, Gilson, P. Danielou, P. de Lubac) I have found quite helpful and not, after all, too distant from the Orthodox…
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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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MADNESS.
Introduction article to Issue 25 Jesus Christ. Swine. Madness. We have flipped entirely upside down. The world’s progression has become an absolute digression and its evolution a complete reduction. The philosophies it continues to build itself upon are ideas of madmen and have been stacked like a house of cards. The world chooses to live in madness, in the filth of its own possession, rather than to be disturbed by anything contrary to its insanity. We fall prey to this machine of insanity, running the race for ourselves—and only ourselves. Love has been distorted into a self-centered motive, respect has been reduced to tolerance of opinion, and self-sacrifice is almost…
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The Mystery of God’s Judgements
By Elder Paisios of Mount Athos (1994) Printed in Issue 19 Father Paisios told us the following story, wishing to give us an example of the way God looks after His children, while many times we get angry at Him and do not understand His actions: An ascetic was praying to God asking Him to reveal why the righteous and pious people are miserable and suffer unjustly, whereas the unrighteous and sinful ones are rich and contented. While he was asking God to reveal to him this mystery, he heard a voice saying to him: “Do not ask to comprehend what your mind and power of knowledge cannot grasp and…
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The Sisters of Mercy
Printed in Issue #22 On the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, lies a haven for the sick and suffering. This is the Convent of Saint Elizabeth, a source of joy for those who lay on hospital beds, those abandoned by parents, and those suffering from many other illnesses of both soul and body. In this country once run by godless communists, with millions of it’s faithful thrown into gulags to die, this place of sanctity is truly a beautiful rose bush that broke through the atheist concrete, blooming fragrant flowers in the souls of those who seek refuge there. Following in the footsteps of their Patron, Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr,…
