Lifes of Saints
Saint John of Kronstadt - one of the most unique Russian elders
How did he manage to do it all? He had the ability - acquired, no doubt, by prayer and patience - to snatch a short period of deep sleep wherever and whenever he got the chance; and he had a great love of the early morning hours for prayer and meditation, but his early morning walks in his garden were soon discovered, and then - farewell to solitude! Often, indeed, he could barely save half-an-hour for his own prayers.
Jan 2, 2008, 15:03

Lifes of Saints
St. Seraphim of Sarov
St. Seraphim was once again healed by the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Who appeared to him accompanied by several saints. Pointing to the venerable Seraphim, The Holy Virgin said to the apostle John the Theologian: "He is of our lineage." Then, by touching his side with Her staff, She healed him.
Dec 6, 2007, 01:52

Lifes of Saints
St Seraphim of Sarov
S t. Seraphim (born Prohor Moshnin) was born in 1759 to a merchant family in Kursk. At the age of 10, he became seriously ill. During the course of his illness, he saw the Mother of God in his sleep, who promised to heal him. Several days later there was a religious procession in Kursk with the locally revered miracle-working icon of the Mother of God. Due to bad weather, the procession took an abbreviated route past the house of the Moshnin family. After his mother put Seraphim up to the miracle-working image, he recovered rapidly. While at a young age, he needed to help his parents with their shop, but business had little appeal for him. Young Seraphim loved to read the lives of the saints, to attend church and to withdraw into seclusion for prayer.
Jul 11, 2007, 07:38

Lifes of Saints
Spiritual Father and Chief Shepherd of His Nation
Saint Ambrosi the Confessor (in the world Besarion Khelaia) was born in 1861. He received his primary education at the theological school in Samegrelo and graduated from Tbilisi Seminary in 1885. He graduated and was ordained to the priesthood in the same year. Fr. Ambrosi served as a priest in Sokhumi (in northwestern Georgia) for eight years, at the same time teaching the Georgian language in schools and directing the activity of various philanthropic societies.
Jun 3, 2007, 18:47

Lifes of Saints
Optina Elders
Elder Makary's face was scarred by smallpox, he stuttered and was always poorly dressed, but he was distinguished by a very refined personality. He was born to a landed gentry family, loved music and was a talented violinist.
Mar 6, 2007, 20:55

Lifes of Saints
On Glorification of the Saints. A talk with archpriest Georgiy Mitrofanov
Glorification of saints is a very difficult issue. History of the Church is, first of all, the history of sainthood, and the twentieth century in this regard is one of the saddest periods of our church history. The Russian Church, having given the world an enormous number of saints, had no opportunity to complete the glorification .
Feb 13, 2007, 04:34

Lifes of Saints
Symeon the Stylite of the Mountain
Saint Symeon, the "New Stylite," was born in Antioch; John his father was from Edessa, and Martha his mother was from Antioch. From his childhood he was under the special guidance of Saint John the Baptist and adopted an extremely ascetical way of life.
May 24, 2006, 10:27

Lifes of Saints
Translation of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra to Bari, in 1087
Our beloved holy Father Nicholas is, along with St George (and second to the All-holy Theotokos), probably the best-loved Saint of the Church. His numberless miracles through the ages, on behalf of the countless Christians who have called on him, cannot be told. He was born in Lycia (in Asia Minor) around the end of the third century, to pious Christian parents.

May 8, 2006, 15:08

Lifes of Saints
Holy Gloriuos Great-martyr, Victory-bearer and Wonderworker George
The Great­martyr George, for his manliness and for his spiritual victory over the torturers, who could not force him to renounce Christianity, and likewise for his wonderworking assistance to people in danger is additionally called the "Victory-bearer".
Neither the Great Horologion nor the Prologue, nor the Church's services to St George, mention the most popular story of St George, his slaying of a dragon.
May 6, 2006, 00:09

Lifes of Saints
Blessed Matrona
Today is the day of memory of Blessed Matrona. Many people came to Pokrovsky Monastery to venerate her. There are always lines of people at the walls of this Monastery: people come to her because when she was alive, she used to say: “Everyone, everyone come to me and say about your problems like to a living one, I will see you, hear you and help you.”
May 2, 2006, 21:46

Lifes of Saints
ST. John the Baptist
St. John the Baptist is the man who recognizes in Jesus of Nazareth the Lamb of God, God Incarnate, the Man of sorrows. He is the one who in God’s own name declares to those who surround him who He is, and who prepares His way. The greatness of St John the Baptist lies, perhaps more than in anything, in the fact that he so loved, so believed, so completely wanted to serve God, who had come into His world to save it, that his whole service can be put in the words he uses himself: “ I must diminish, I must decrease, that He may increase.”
Sep 11, 2005, 00:26

Lifes of Saints
The Ancient Fathers of the Desert: (Section 1)
Abba Antonios said: “The time is coming when people will be seized by manias and will behave like madmen. And if they see anyone acting reasonably, they will rise up against him saying: ‘You are insane.’ And they will have accurately said this to him, for he will not be like them.”
May 16, 2005, 01:46

Lifes of Saints
Sts. Cyril and Methodius
In the middle of the 9th Century, Patriarch Photius initiated large scale missionary labors in these regions by sending out the two brothers Constantine (in monasticism Cyril - 869) and Methodius (885 - both are commemorated May 11), first to the Khazar State north of the Caucasus (this was largely unsuccessful) and then to Moravia (Czechoslovakia) in 863.
May 10, 2005, 02:38