Akathist to St. John Archbishop of Shangai and San Francisco
$5.50
We are pleased to offer this new edition of the Akathist to St. John the Wonderworker. He is a saint of our times, beloved by those around the world, who continues to work countless miracles. As His Grace Bishop James relates in his Foreword to the Akathist, the miracles and extraordinary accounts concerning St. John “assure us that we are not alone in facing the difficult challenges of earthly life. Indeed, the Lord Himself promised: Behold, I shall not leave you orphans (John 14:18). St. John fulfilled this promise, having cared for so many orphans during his lifetime; and as his constant miracles attest, he continues to care for us. Therefore, let us not allow ourselves to become spiritual orphans through worrying and being anxious: may we instead turn to him in prayer and ask for his bold intercessions before our Lord.” Full-color cover and inner pages, richly illustrated with several icons of St. John.
Full-color cover and inner pages.
Format: Softcover
Pages: 28
A Taste of Paradise: Stories of Saints and Animals
$24.00
by Katherine Bolger Hyde
Long ago in Paradise, animals and people walked side by side. When we return to Paradise, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, and a little child shall lead them. In the time in between, many holy men and women have befriended even the fiercest beasts through the power of God's love. Come and meet a few of these saints and their animal friends in this beautifully illustrated collection of inspiring stories!
About the Author: Katherine Bolger Hyde has devoted her life to books as a reader, editor, and writer. Her works include the picture books Lucia, Saint of Light and Everything Tells Us about God; the young adult fantasy The Dome-Singer of Falenda; and the adult mystery series Crime with the Classics. Katherine lives in the redwood country of the California central coast, where she shares a home with two domesticated humans and two wild and crazy cats.
About the Illustrator: Anastasia Sokolova is an artist, designer, illustrator, and teacher who lives and works in Moscow with her husband, four children, and a good-natured cat. Trained as an architect, Anastasia built a cozy wooden house with her own hands in the Russian outback, the interior of which she also designed and decorated with her own paintings. She began illustrating books in 2012. A Taste of Paradise is her first book in English.
Age Range: For children of all ages
Author: Katherine Bolger Hyde
Illustrator: Anastasiya Sokolova
Hardcover: 32 pages
Dimensions: 8.5 x 11 inches
Into All the World: An Orthodox Theology of Mission
$28.00
Fr Edward Rommen makes the case that it is now time to reexamine the theological underpinnings of the Eastern Orthodox Church’s mission to the world. Globalization has clearly altered the various fields on which missions are carried out. Christians in the West, to their credit, have been actively developing a missional response to these changes. As a result, missiology and missions theology are well established in the academic institutions of the West. However, the Orthodox Church has, in spite of its rich history of missionary activity, been notably absent from these discussions. But now this is changing.
As the constraints of political and religious oppression have eased, the Church is awakening to its own history, but more importantly to its own missionary responsibility. There has been a great deal of fresh activity among Orthodox scholars that can enrich our reexamination of the Church’s mission. So it is now indeed an opportune time to tap into the biblical, historical, and traditional resources of the Orthodox Church and attempt to reformulate a systematic, theological statement of the rationale and goal of mission, to reaffirm the centrality of the Church in missionary outreach, to describe for a new generation the nature of the gospel and the basic content of church education, and to rearticulate the guidelines that should govern our mission work.
"This is a contribution to the field of mission that I have been looking forward to for a long time. Since the 1950s, missionaries and scholars—like Abp Anastasios (Yannoulatos)—have helped the contemporary Orthodox Church rediscover its rich two thousand year tradition of mission. Their work has detailed the historical periods of missionary work, articulated elements of an Orthodox theology of mission, and offered examples of how this practice of mission is lived out today. Fr Edward Rommen has produced a fine volume where he brings all these elements together in a holistic manner."
-Rev. Luke A. Veronis, Director of the Missions Institute at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
Format: Paperback
Page Length: 288 pages
The Man and the Vine
$20.00
A festive children’s book about the joy of a farmer and his little daughter as they work their vineyard and offer the fruit of the vine back to their Creator in Eucharistic celebration. The reader takes in the mystery of grapes becoming the wine of the Holy Communion as the illustrations and the text lead from field to wine cellar to church.
A picture book for preschool and up.
Hardcover: 32 pages
Life after Death According to the Orthodox Tradition
$26.95
An accessible and well organized synthesis of the ancient Christian understanding of death and the afterlife. Drawing primary from the Greek language writings of the Fathers it does not neglect the Latin sources. It will benefit all who desire to understand the classical Christian teaching of what lies beyond our temporal life.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 344
— About the Book —
This book offers an accessible and well organized synthesis of the ancient Christian understanding of death and the afterlife. French philosopher and patrologist Jean-Claude Larchet draws both from Scriptures and a multiplicity of early Christian writings, both Greek and Latin, in demolishing false conceptions such as reincarnation, whilst setting forth with clarity an authentically Christian understanding.
The reader will gain understanding of both the time and modalities of the bodily resurrection, the nature of the Particular and the Universal judgments, and of the Church's intercessory prayer for the departed. He notes that some divergences between eastern and western traditions have existed since the fifth century and argues that these became of much greater importance after the twelfth century, when the Roman Catholic Church developed the notion of Purgatory.
This work will be of benefit both to the Orthodox Christian reader in enhancing their own understanding of the Church's teaching, and to Roman Catholics, Protestants, and others who desire to become acquainted with the fullness of the Christian tradition on death and the afterlife. All will encounter the abundant heritage of “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
— Author Biography —
Dr Jean-Claude Larchet is one of the most notable living philosophers and authors on Orthodox Christian Patristics. He holds a Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Nancy and a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Strasbourg. A teacher of philosophy for nearly thirty-five years, he is an author of over thirty books and countless articles whose work has been translated into seventeen languages. His magnum opus, Therapy of Spiritual Illness, and several other works have been translated into English to wide acclaim.
G. John Champoux is a retired independent scholar. He is the translator and editor of several French spiritual writings and the author of The Way to Our Heavenly Father: A Contemplative Telling of the Lord's Prayer.
— Contents —
Preface
- Death: Origin and Spiritual Meaning
- The Moment of Death
- From the First to the Third Day Following Death: The Separation of the Soul from the Body
- From the Third to the Ninth Day: The Passage through the Aerial Toll-houses
- From the Ninth to the Fortieth Day: The Introduction into the Other World
- The Fortieth Day: The Particular Judgment
- From the Fortieth Day to the Last Judgment: The Intermediate State
- Purgatory
- The Relations between the Living and the Dead
- The Resurrection and the Last Judgment
- Eternal Life: The Kingdom of Heaven and Hell
- Preparing Oneself for Death and the Life Beyond
Notes
Bibliography
The History of the Russian Church in Australia: From Siberia to Sydney
$38.95
The history of the Russian Orthodox Church in Australia is diligently chronicled within the context of a modern culturally diverse society, drawing on extensive archival sources and the author's own life experience. First published in 2006 this new edition includes a substantive new chapter recounting the ongoing story from 2000 through to the end of 2020.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 536
— About the Book —
In this comprehensive work, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in Australia is diligently chronicled within the wider context of the place of Russians in the dominantly anglophone society of what was at first a British colony and then an independent state. The study begins with the first contact of Russian naval ships with the Australian continent in the early nineteenth century and progresses through to the establishment of the first parish of Orthodox believers in Melbourne in the 1890s and ultimately the creation of a diocese. The catalyst for this was the arrival of thousands of Russians fleeing their homeland via Siberia after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. For these dispossessed refugees Australia was a haven of safety and the Russian Orthodox Church a symbol of the Motherland they had lost. They were later joined by successive waves of fellow Russians after World War II and the fall of communism. Together they created a unified organism, retaining a sense of heritage and purpose and taking their rightful place in Australia’s multi-cultural society.
In writing this work the author has drawn on extensive archival sources spread over several continents together with his own life experience, having arrived as a small boy in Australia over six decades ago. First published in 2006 this new edition includes an added chapter recounting the ongoing story from the beginning of the twenty-first century through to the end of 2020, covering the effects on the Church in Australia of major world events as diverse as the reunification of the Russian Church Abroad with the Patriarchate of Moscow in 2007 and the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
— Author Biography —
Mitred Archpriest Michael Protopopov is chancellor of the Diocese of Australia & New Zealand of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Australian Catholic University. In addition to his pastoral duties, he currently lectures in History and Theology at the Sts Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Theological Institute. He is the author of a number of books, including biographies of past bishops of the Australian Diocese. For his years of service to the Russian community, he was awarded the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1991.
— Contents —
Introduction
A Russian Presence
Revolution: Agitators, Imposters, and Refugees
Settlement Brisbane
Settlement Sydney
Settlement Melbourne
Ecclesiological Perspectives on the Church in the Russian Migrant Experience
A Diocese is Born: Archbishop Theodore Rafalsky
A Time of Growth: Archbishop Sava Raevsky Turmoil and Revolt: Archbishop Athanasy Martos
The Need for Healing: Archbishop Theodosy Putilin
Some Thoughts on the State of Russian Monasticism in Australia
Consolidation and Stability: Archbishop Paul Pavlov
Coarse and Wicked Times: Bishop Daniel Alexandrov
Into the Twenty-First Century: Archbishop Hilarion Kapral
A Positive Direction: Metropolitan Laurus and Metropolitan Hilarion
Appendix: Explanation of Ecclesiastical Awards Notes
Bibliography
Index
The Age of Utopia: Christendom from the Renaissance to the Russian Revolution
$22.95
by John Strickland
The Age of Utopia: Christendom from the Renaissance to the Russian Revolution - Paradise and Utopia: The Rise and Fall of What the West Once Was, VOLUME 3 (of a projected four-volume history of Christendom)
Continuing the epic of Christendom told in earlier volumes, The Age of Paradise and The Age of Division, the author explains how, between the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth century and the Russian Revolution of the twentieth, secular humanism displaced Christianity to become the source of modern culture. The result was some of the most illustrious music, science, philosophy, and literature ever produced. But the cultural reorientation from paradise to utopia—from an experience of the kingdom of heaven to one bound exclusively by this world—all but eradicated the traditional culture of the West, leaving it at the beginning of the twentieth century without roots in anything transcendent.
About the Author: John Strickland is an Orthodox priest and former college professor. His first book, The Making of Holy Russia, is a study of the resilience of Christianity in the modern world. An active blogger and podcaster, he brings to the present work a lifetime of reflection on the religious background of the West. He lives in western Puget Sound with his wife and five children.
Softcover: 414 pages
Akathist to the Holy Archangel Michael, Protector and Defender of the Faithful
$5.50
As a prayerful aid in these troubled times, we offer the Akathist to the Holy Archangel Michael, whose mighty intercession for Christians assuages fears! Included in this edition is the account of the Miracle wrought by the Holy Archangel Michael at Chonae, and Hymns of Praise composed by St. Nikolai (Velimirovich).
Full-color cover and inner pages, abundantly illustrated.
Format: Softcover
Pages: 32
Akathist to the Myrrh-streaming Icon of the Mother of God, "Softener of Evil Hearts"
$5.50
The wonderworking, myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God, “Softener of Evil Hearts,” is one of the sacred treasures of the Russian Orthodox Church today. The icon depicts the boundless sorrow and pain of heart that the Theotokos experienced during her earthly life, as prophesied by Simeon the Godreceiver, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also... (Luke 2:35). The icon first began to stream myrrh in 1998 and continues to stream, often in response to occurrences in the world, including the 9-11 terrorist attack and the Beslan school massacre. On Pascha night, 2020, bright red drops resembling blood appeared on the icon. I n an interview with the guardian of the icon, Sergei Fomin, he speaks of the many healings that occur. Everywhere, the icon is received with joy and hope. Multitudes of people come to venerate the holy icon and to ask for healing from bodily illnesses (including cancer), for consolation in sorrows and afflictions of life, for the softening of their own hearts and those of their neighbors, for help and support for their spirits and souls. All those who turn to the Mother of God in prayer before the icon sense an easing of spiritual and physical suffering. They begin to recognize that when they pray for their enemies before the icon, their feelings of enmity are softened, and that strife and hatred abate, giving way to kindness.
Full-color cover and inner pages, abundantly illustrated.
Format: Softcover
Pages: 32
Akathist to Child-Martyr Gabriel Protector of Vulnerable Children
$5.50
This new addition to the Series of Akathists is to the Child-Martyr Gabriel of Poland. Though the saint lived in the late-seventeenth century and on the other side of the world from us, he is nonetheless a ready intercessor for our times. This innocent child, at the age of six, was abducted and subjected to cruel torture, yet heroically proved himself to be a true passion-bearer for Christ, attested by his wondrous incorrupt relics. Miracles of the saint’s intercession abound. For us the faithful, sorrowing over the serious sins against the youth of our own times (such as the victims of the multi-billion-dollar child-trafficking industry), we offer this publication as a means for prayer for the protection of any child who is in a vulnerable situation: those who have fallen prey to abductors, who are being abused, or those being neglected even in their own homes. The publication includes a Foreword by Fr. Nectarios, the Guardian of the Wonderworking “Hawaiian” Iveron Icon of the Holy Theotokos, as well as a Brief Life of the saint, which portrays the fascinating account of the history surrounding the saint’s holy relics. Also included in the publication is a beautiful Prayer for Children, composed by St. Nikolai Velimirovich.
Full-color cover and inner pages, abundantly illustrated.
Format: Softcover
Pages: 36
Canon to New Martyr Ephraim Wonderworker of Nea Makri
$5.50
Complimenting the Akathist to Child-Martyr Gabriel is this additional new publication in the Akathist Series. It is a Canon to New Martyr Ephraim of Nea Makri, whose holy relics were discovered in Greece, in the year 1950. Although there is a rich array of various healings by the saint, his “signature,” as it were, is for helping wayward youth, those addicted to drugs, the despairing and suicidal. The publication includes an insightful introduction, depicting the explosion of social media resulting in a youth culture racked by isolation and despair. Several accounts of the saint’s dramatic miracles are included, revealing the closeness of the saint and his powerful intercession.
Full-color cover and inner pages, abundantly illustrated.
Format: Softcover
Pages: 36
101 Orthodox Saints
$25.00
Did you know there was a saint who used a dogsled for transportation? Or a saint who turned down a marriage proposal from the Roman Emperor? How about the saint who jumped from building to building during a siege to bring the Eucharist to his parishioners?
Discover all of these stories and more in 101 Orthodox Saints. Written for children and those with a childlike curiosity, this visual encyclopedia will enhance your family’s understanding and celebration of the saints of the Church. Each page is filled with illustrations, icons, graphics, and fascinating facts about the martyrs, monks, and mothers who boldly lived out their Faith to the glory of God.
About the Authors:
Presbytera Sarah Wright is an Orthodox Christian, wife, mother of three, and teacher. As a teacher, the highlight of her job is helping kids get hooked on reading. She hopes to write books that will encourage that love of reading and, more importantly, a love for Christ and His Church. She and her family live in Waco, Texas, where her husband is the priest of a lovely and loving parish. Sarah also writes the popular blog Orthodox Motherhood, and she can usually be found at her Texas home watching an old movie, hiking, or eating Mexican food with her family.
Alexandra Schmalzbach is a lifelong Virginian and Orthodox Christian. Alexandra was born in Arlington to second-generation Greek Americans. Alexandra majored in American history and religious studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, graduated in 2007, and three weeks later married her husband, Brian. They now reside in Richmond with their five children: Stella Virginia, Peter, Josiah, Sebastian, and Raphael.
About the Illustrator:
Nicholas Malara grew up in Denver, Colorado, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration. Over the course of his twenty-year-long career, he has illustrated books, designed games, and created products of all kinds for children. Using his talents to serve the Kingdom of heaven is his greatest passion. He currently resides in Spokane, Washington, with his wife and two children.
Format: Hardcover
Page Length: 120 pages
Ages: 7-14
Russian Monks on Mount Athos: The Thousand Year History of St Panteleimon's
$38.95
This is the first detailed history of the Russian presence on the Holy Mountain of Athos that traces it back over one thousand years. It will be invaluable to both historians and the general educated reader. The text is complemented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full-color illustrations and photographs.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 280
— About the Book —
The Holy Mountain of Athos is a self-governing monastic republic on a peninsula in Northern Greece. Standing on the shores of the Aegean Sea is one of the twenty ruling monasteries that comprise the republic, that of St Panteleimon, known in Greek as the Rossikon. Its building, fully restored in recent years, can accommodate up to 5,000 men, reflecting the scale of the settlement at its apogee in the nineteenth century and prior to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 the monastery has experienced a strong revival and is now among the most numerous of the twenty. But the vast buildings that can be seen today are a reflection of only the past two centuries. That the Russian presence on Athos goes back more than one thousand years is much less well known.
This book is the first comprehensive account in the English language of this millennium of history. The author has been able to draw from previously inaccessible archival materials in gathering the wealth of information he shares in this work. The history of the community is not described in geographical isolation but shown as interacting with the much wider worlds of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and the modern nation state of Greece, together with that of the Russian homeland whose political character is constantly evolving. There are shown to be three distinct phases in this history:
- from the tenth to the twelfth centuries when Russian Athonites inhabited the ancient Russian Lavra of the Mother of God, also known as Xylourgou;
- then the six hundred years from the mid-twelfth to the mid-eighteenth century when the ancient Monastery of St Panteleimon was the Russian house on Athos, more commonly referred to as Nagorny or Stary Rusik;
- the most recent 250 years, that are naturally covered in greater depth thanks to the wider availability of sources.
Amongst the themes explored in the book are ethnic relations, the Pan-Orthodox ideal, the role of money and political pressure, sanctity and heroism in adversity, and the importance of historical memory and precedent. The author seeks to arbitrate fairly between often strongly opposing ethnic viewpoints.
It examines in detail the fluctuating fortunes of the monastic community of St Panteleimon during the past 250 years, when its ethnic identity was frequently questioned. St Panteleimon's is a history that has been blighted by Greek-Russian quarrels, mass deportation of dissenting brethren, troubles in the Caucasus, and even tangential implication in the present-day dispute between the Ecumenical and Moscow Patriarchates over Ukraine.
This text will be invaluable to both academic historians and the general educated reader who does not possess specialist knowledge. It is complemented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full-color illustrations and photographs.
— Author Biography —
Nicholas Fennell holds a MA in Modern and Mediaeval Languages from Trinity College Cambridge, where he was a Senior Scholar, and a PhD from Southampton University. He is a member of the Friends of Mount Athos and of the Institute of the Athonite Legacy in Ukraine. The author of three previous books on Athonite Russian history, he has been researching and visiting Mount Athos since the 1980s.
— Contents —
Introduction: The Russian Monastery on Mount Athos
1 - The Monastery’s Early History: from Xylourgou to the Old Mountain Rusik
2 - From Abbot Savvas to Abbot Gerasim
3 - The Return of the Russians in the Reign of Abbot Gerasimos
4 - The New Spiritual Father and Leader of the Russian Brotherhood is Chosen
5 - The Crimean War
6 - The Greek and Russian Brotherhoods at Loggerheads
7 - The Reign of Archimandrite Makary
8 - Makary’s Successors: Abbots Andrey and Nifont 1889–1905
9 - Archimandrite Misail
10- The Name of God Dispute
11 - From 1913 to Abbot Misail’s Death in 1940
12- The Next Four Abbots: from Iustin to Avel´ (1940–1978)
13 - From Abbot Ieremiya to Abbot Evlogy
Conclusion
Timeline
Acknowledgements
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index