One of the most striking events in the Orthodox Church in recent years has been the extraordinary response to the remarkable life of the reposed leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop John Maximovitch (1896-1966). He served the Church as bishop, first of Shanghai in the Far East, then of Western Europe, in Paris and Brussels, and finally of Western America in San Francisco. 
Manifesting many contrasting forms of sanctity, he was at once a God-inspired theologian and a "Fool-for-Christ," a zealous missionary leader and a feeder of the poor, a severe ascetic and a loving father to orphans. Like Moses, he delivered his flock from oppression, bringing it from communist China to the free world; like the first apostles, he was given power from God to heal wounded souls and ailing bodies. 
BLESSED JOHN THE WONDERWORKER offers abundant source materials on the life of this contemporary apostolic Church leader, a pictorial biography and the first verified collection of 100 personal testimonies of his sanctity. Focusing on God's presence, through the experience and impact of one man, this book provides a key for those seeking a life of true holiness in our times.

Blessed John the Wonderworker: A Preliminary Account of the Life and Miracles of Archbishop John Maximovitch

Religion & Spirituality

Rose, Fr. Seraphim

Christian Books & Bibles

St Herman Pr

A verse by verse study of the mystical writings of St. John

Apocalypse of Saint John

Archbishop, Averky

Heavenly Realm

Rose, Seraphim

The First Created Man is a collection of seven homilies which deal with Adam s fall and our redemption by Jesus Christ.
A knowledge of the beginning and end of all things is essential for us to understand the purpose of our existence here on this earth, and what lies beyond it. For a true interpretation of the first and last things, we must turn to those teachers who beheld the beginning and end in a state of divine vision. Among these great seers was St. Symeon the New Theologian (949 1022): he speaks of the mysteries of the beginning and end precisely because he has seen them.
St. Symeon s profound homilies on Adam and the future age give the theological foundation for the Christian life of struggle. The original state of man from which Adam fell tells of our deepest nature, of which our present fallen nature is a corruption that is to be overcome; and the future state of blessedness is the goal to which our Christian struggle is aimed, and to which we can attain, by God s grace, despite our fallen state.
 These homilies of St. Symeon have been selected, translated, and introduced by Fr. Seraphim Rose with the aim of reconnecting modern man with the ancient understanding of the true purpose of life.

The First-Created Man: Seven Homilies by St. Symeon the New Theologian

When Fr. Seraphim found out that the early Western Father, Blessed Augustine of Hippo, was being attacked in contemporary Eastern Orthodox circles, then he--himself a Western convert to Orthodoxy--rose in his defense. This book is the outcome. Fr. Seraphim said he wrote it in the hope that it would help remove Augustine as a scapegoat for today's academic theologians, and thus "help free us all to see his and our own weaknesses in a little closer light--for his weaknesses, to a surprising degree, are indeed close to our own." 
After discussing Blessed Augustine's strengths and weaknesses, Fr. Seraphim examines the opinions of other Holy Fathers concerning him. "His main benefit to us today," he writes, "is probably precisely as a Father of Orthodox pietysomething with which he was filled to overflowing. Here he is one with the simple Orthodox faithful, as well as with all the Holy Fathers of East and West who, whatever their various failings and differences in theoretical points of doctrine, had a single deeply Christian heart and soul. It is this that makes him unquestionably an Orthodox Father." 
This new edition of The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church contains letters written by Fr. Seraphim concerning Augustine, passages from Augustine's Confessions which Fr. Seraphim found especially moving, and an Orthodox service to Blessed Augustine, commissioned by St. John Maximovitch.

The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church (Orthodox Theological Texts)

Many people today know of the Philokalia, a compilation of mystical, ascetic texts from the ancient Christian tradition which contain teachings on unceasing prayer, interior silence, unseen warfare, and prayer of the heart. Few, however, know of the spiritual Elder who discovered these lost teachings after a painstaking search, and who devoted the rest of his life to disseminating them, putting them into practice, and helping other spiritual seekers to attain union with God through them. This man was Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky. 
Having lived at the beginning of the modern age, Blessed Paisius has supplied us with a blueprint on how to live like the ancient holy ones even while in the midst of the contemporary atmosphere of confusion, despair, and abandonment of the truth. Today his legacy--brought to America by monks from the Russian monastery of Valaam, and preserved and cultivated through the eldership of Optina Monastery--is more timely and needed than ever before.

Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky: The Man Behind the Philokalia

Biographies & Memoirs

Platon, Schema-Monk

Leaders & Notable People

Vita Patrum: The Life of the Fathers

St. Gregory of Tours

Salt of the Earth

Pavel Florensky

ONE OF THE ANCIENTS offers glimpses into the mystical life, telling of Elder Gabriel's unceasing and burning prayer, spiritual experiences, wondrous visions, and acts of clairvoyance and healing. 
The Elder was a normal, down-to-earth human being who endured all of the common temptations. It was his deep longing for the other world, inborn in every person, that gave him courage to stand and fight as a free individual before God, and, without expecting anyone to do it for him, to take the kingdom of heaven by force (Matt 11:12). His victory over adversity and his own raging passions gives hope to those still in the arena of unseen warfare, striving for union with God as did he. 
Through the holy Life of Elder Gabriel ONE OF THE ANCIENTS portrays an undivided awareness of God, the vision of otherworldliness, perception of the future and even a partial penetration into the mysteries of death--to the life beyond.

One of the Ancients: The Life and Struggles of a Russian Man of Prayer : Elder Gabriel of Pskov and Kazan

Kholmogorov, Simeon

The Life of the pious man in ELDER MELCHIZEDEK was very unusual, even unique--it was an extremely long life, lasting for 125 years, from 1715 to 1840. At 95 years of age, Elder Melchizedek left his monastery for the life of a solitary in the great White Forest. At this age, he had the vigor of a man in his fifties, mentally alert and courageous. 
Elder Melchizedek was part of the whole phenomenon of the desert dwellers of Roslavl, which led to the formation of the Optina Skete. Similar to many others who pursued monastic love for the wilderness, he was a contemporary of outstanding men of prayer to whom mystical realities were opened.

Elder Melchizedek : Hermit of the Roslavl Forest (The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in Ancient Russia series)

Bolshakoff, Serge N.

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