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Excerpt from the book:

“…a Knight of unblemished Russian dignity and honor … the Grand Duke completely accepted the sacrificial task of carrying out the heavy duties and responsibilities of representation, and even more: the leadership of the thousand-year-old Dynasty of the Russian Imperial House, who are the historical descendants of the Byzantine Empire: the founders of Christian culture.”

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“Along the way, in varying ways and attitudes, the citizenry of Saint Petersburg witnessed … the presence in their midst of Him who might in happier days have been their Tsar. Some disregarded what was happening before them, eager to carry on their work of the day oblivious to anything beyond the desperate search for food and sustenance, the drab drudgery of Lenin’s Promethean hubris. Others stopped to watch in curious and inquiring silence. Still more smiled and waved enthusiastically to the Imperial Family, while a smaller …

monastery musings

Saint Spyridon notes from Gerontissa Theonymphe on Corfu

Hello to all of you, those who attend the blessed  Queen of All Skete, and to those who follow the Site prepared by the Skete. Special greetings to the hard-working Mother Superior, Mother Andrea, Evlogeite! 

As you know, Corfu is blessed as the honored owner of the Holy relics of Saint Spyridon, a long story going back many years. The relics are preserved in the enormous Church called the Ayio, in the center of town. Throughout the day the clerics open the protective doors and allow people to venerate the Saint’s

holy relics, whole, intact, lying in a massive silver casket, over which hang numerous candilia [vigil lamps]. Nearby is the right arm of the Saint in a separate Holy Relic box having come more recently to the island. All this time the clerics read names submitted, for health, enlightenment, and …

monastery musings

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The Borders of Ukraine

      Ukraine is a land with vast expanses of wheat and sunflower fields stretching farther than the eye can see; attention to beauty in the smallest of details; hard-working people who are cordial in their hospitality; and so much more that makes it a truly special place.

By God’s grace and through the generosity of Georgiy Belchenko of blessed memory (+2021) and his wife, I was blessed to experience Ukraine with Mother Theodora (in schema Amphilochia, +2015), before the present turmoil.

The one thing that struck us both were the magnificent borders painted on church arches.  Mother Theodora, an iconographer, noted that Orthodox church architecture, which often incorporates graceful arches into its design, led to an entire artistic discipline that would enable the arches to be harmoniously united …

monastery musings

Saint Spyridon is quick to hear

A Story from The Optina Garden

The Optina Garden is a beautiful book written by Nina Pavlova, a spiritual daughter of Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov). Nina also authored Red Pascha, the account of the three Optina monks murdered by satanists in 1993.

Nina was so captivated with Optina that she purchased a house near the outskirts of the Monastery. Daily she visited with the Elders and monks, which provided her with a privileged connection to the Elders. She kept detailed and valuable notes on events, characters, and dreams. Due to the assistance she provided the Monastery, she was trusted by the elders and with the spiritual guidance they provided her, she received a serious theological education.

Written in Russian, the text was translated into Greek by Father George Konispoliatis. Gerontissa Theonymphe of the Παναγιοπουλα Μετοχι (Panagiopoula Μετochi) in Corfu, Greece, found particularly interesting an …