Abbess Olympiada (Baranova)
Abbess Olympiada shared her story about her spiritual mother and her experience of the continuity of the traditions of Russian female monasticism.
Hieromonk Athanasius (Deryugin)
In the Church of God everything is done to separate us from the earth and bring us closer to the Creator.
Hieromonk Sebastian (Kuznetsov)
For the Mother of God, entering the Holy of Holies and living there was Her path and ascent from strength to strength towards God, to an even greater purity of heart and an immaculate state.
“They burned my feet with a red-hot iron, tore out my beard, beat me, but I told them: ‘You can torture me as much as you want, but I won’t renounce Christ!’”
Kneeling and tearfully praying before the icon of the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos, entreating her protection and intercession, I, who until that moment had been timid and fearful, lacking any boldness, rose from my knees full of strength, light, and the singular desire to serve the supreme Truth, laying my whole being at the feet of Jesus Christ and thenceforth fearing no one.
