July 27, 2020 “I Was Afraid to Tell My Jewish Father that We Were Baptized.” I was born in a Jewish family. My father was an Assistant Rabbi. We didn’t go to synagogue often, but celebrated the feast days…
May 5, 2020 Is Orthodoxy Light Over? One friend of mine, a bright man and a talented musician, while being healthy treated faith ironically, sometimes making vulgar jokes on a Christian…
May 5, 2020 God in the Life of Man One famous Soviet actor, summing up his life, described his greatest tragedy as follows, “I forgot God”. Surprisingly, in our time, even Christians do…
April 15, 2020 Barabbas: The “Savior” Chosen by the People We are free to change our decisions for as long as we are alive, and God humbly awaits while we make our minds. One…
April 13, 2020 Social vs. Spiritual Distancing At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the secular authorities have implemented “social distancing” as one of the crucial measures in the fight against…
April 7, 2020 Imitating St Mary of Egypt in the Loneliness of Our Homes What is a desert as understood by the Holy Fathers? How to preserve peace in the family during isolation? Why is any end a…
March 9, 2020 Little Alla And the Big Padlock: On the Modern Life of the St. Thecla-Holy Dormition Convent in Russia Having visited the Convent of St. Thecla and the Dormition, situated in the village of Senino not far from Optina Monastery in Russia’s Kaluga region, I was…
March 6, 2020 A Sensational Interview of Monk Sophronios: “I Agree with Everything Except Euthanasia!” A monk from the monastery in Chania, Crete: “Agree with everything except euthanasia. My strength is weakened by sicknes.”: Sophronios, who suffers from Terminal…
February 19, 2020 What Do I Say to the Person Who Is Suffering? First off, show up. Don’t ask permission, just show up. It’s always difficult to know just what to say when a friend or loved…
February 17, 2020 A Monk from a Samurai Family Hierodeacon Nikolai (Ono) comes from an old family of priests of the Japanese Orthodox Church. His great-great grandfather’s name—Priest John Ono—is often mentioned in…
January 30, 2020 My Journey to the Russian North Throughout many centuries of Russian history, wood has remained the main building material due to its accessibility and renewability. Wood as a building material…
January 22, 2020 Two Episodes of Nonviolent Religiosity When God reveals Himself to us and when we meet Him, we are very eager to share this discovery with our loved ones. Sometimes…
