He was called the Sun of Cheremshan—such was the reverence for this holy man. When he reposed, thousands of people from towns and villages gathered at the Cheremshan Monastery for his burial. Who was he, and why was he so beloved by his fellow Old Believers, and even admired by his opponents for his righteousness? In…
On April 27 (new style), the Church commemorates the sufferings and burning of the holy hieromartyr and confessor Avvakum and his fellow strugglers: Priest Lazar, Deacon Theodore, and Monk Epiphanius. These martyrs gave up their souls to God in Pustozersk in the year 1682. The supporters of Patriarch Nikon did not shrink from the cruelest…
(Commemorated April 12/25) The island of Aegina is one of the Aegean Islands, closest to the mainland of Hellas, lying south of Salamis. It was here that Saint Athanasia (+860 AD) was born and labored in asceticism. The name Athanasia in Greek means “immortality.” Saint Athanasia was the abbess of a monastery on the island of Aegina….
(Commemoration: April 11/24) Saint Varsonophius, Bishop of Tver and Wonderworker of Kazan, was born around the year 1495 in the city of Serpukhov, into the family of a priest. At baptism, the infant was given the name Ioann (John), although some sources name him Vasiliy (Basil). Gifted with diligence and a quick mind, the boy…
(Commemorated April 11/24) Saint Antipas, a hieromartyr, was a disciple of the holy Apostle John the Theologian and served as bishop of the Church of Pergamum during the reign of Emperor Nero (54–68 A.D.). At that time, by imperial decree, all who refused to offer sacrifices to idols were subjected to execution or exile. It…
Dimitry Urushev Bishop Pavel of Kolomna is one of the most significant figures in Russian spiritual history of the 17th century. Alas, he was not fortunate. His name failed to attract the attention of scholars. He remained in the shadow of his more famous contemporaries—Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon, and Archpriest Avvakum. Pavel and Nikon…
In the mid-seventeenth century, Rus’ and the Russian Church stood at a historical crossroads. They faced a difficult choice: to preserve themselves as the Third Rome—the last bastion of Christianity—even if that meant isolation among the nations of the world; or to join with the rest, exchanging their spiritual birthright for a mess of worldly…