Lives of Saints and Righteous Ones - 5 different Books - Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos Vols 1 and 2, A Little Corner of Paradise, Earthly Angel Heavenly Man, Ascent to the Summit - Multiple Book Discounts 20% off

Book 1: Contemporary Athonite Ascetics Vol 1
by Archimandrite Cherubim

Surrounded by the tranquil Mediterranean countryside of the Holy Mountain, the ascetics of Mount Athos struggle in “unseen warfare” to achieve a state of inner silence and purity. The only monastic republic in the world, Mount Athos has been inhabited solely by monks for more than a thousand years, setting the tone of Orthodox Christian spirituality worldwide and producing a continuous stream of saints.

   “Do not forget that virtue is something hidden … mystically cultivated in the recesses of the heart.”

—Elder Callinicus the Hesychast

   CONTEMPORARY ASCETICS OF MOUNT ATHOS describes the lives and the spiritual images of ten Athonite Elders of recent centuries, who, although differing greatly from each other in their backgrounds, characters and ways of life, all bear the evident seal of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, testifying to a troubled world that the purpose of man’s existence is union with God.

   “Study, my child, to acquire in your life dignity, simplicity, understanding, continuous prayer, manliness, unfeigned love, wisdom, seemliness. Be sympathetic, love the poor. Attain silence and patient endurance. Do not slander, do not laugh at anyone. Acquire angerlessness, modesty, and humility, so that the Lord will glorify you before the angels and the saints.”

—Elder Athanasius of Grigoriou

   The author, Archimandrite Cherubim Karambelas (†1979), lived on Mount Athos in his youth, and searched out firsthand sources and living witnesses for his information on these Elders. In CONTEMPORARY ASCETICS OF MOUNT ATHOS, the most exalted teachings on asceticism and the vision of God are seen practically applied in the persons of these new luminaries, stars in our midst.

Volume I: 363 pages, illustrated, full-color cover, paperback, $17.00

Book 2: Contemporary Athonite Ascetics Vol 2
by Archimandrite Cherubim

Volume II: 358 pages, illustrated, full-color cover, paperback, $17.00

Book 3: A Little Corner of Paradise
by Archimandrite Ioanichie Bălan

Elder Paisius (Olaru) of Sihla (1897–1990) was one of the most beloved spiritual fathers of Romania in recent times. In his youth he lived a life of prayer and service, learning from an older generation of spiritual giants. After World War II he moved to Sihăstria Monastery, where his spiritual son, Elder Cleopa, had recently become abbot. It was there that he became renowned for his spiritual wisdom and discernment, confessing the monks and laymen who came to the monastery. Eventually he moved to the nearby Sihla Skete, where he could continue his life of prayer in greater solitude.

Throughout the Communist period, Elder Paisius was a refuge and shelter for those who desired to preserve their faith in those difficult times. Professors and doctors, farmers and factory workers all came to the humble elder to hear words of consolation, encouragement, and direction. A father of love and hope, he focused the gaze of his flock on Christ and His Heavenly Kingdom, expressing the wish that the Lord grant them a “little corner of Paradise.”

Included in the present volume are the life of this remarkable elder, many of his spiritual teachings, recollections of his spiritual children, interviews conducted with him, his letters, and his poetry.

“Prayer is not a theory that one learns in school. The prayer of the heart, that is, prayer made with the awareness of the heart, is a gift of the Holy Spirit…. Whoever loves God with his whole soul, with all his strength and all his heart, will be endowed with the gift of prayer of the heart and the gift of holy tears.” —Elder Paisius

280 pages, paperback, illustrated. $15.00

Book 4: Earthly Angel, Heavenly Man

During the dark night of Soviet totalitarianism, holy men and women shone like stars throughout the many lands that comprised the U.S.S.R. One of these was Elder Vitaly (Sidorenko). (1928–1992). Born in the Russian region of Krasnodar, in his youth he was a novice monk at the Glinsk Hermitage in Ukraine, where he was spiritually formed under the guidance of holy elders. Due to Communist persecution he was compelled to leave Glinsk, becoming an ascetic pilgrim and traveling from one holy place to another. Finally he settled in Georgia, which was also under Soviet rule, and in which the elders and some of the monks of Glinsk had made their home after their monastery had been forcibly closed. In Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, Fr. Vitaly served as a priest under Metropolitan Zenobius, a holy hierarch-elder who himself had been a monk at Glinsk. Living in obedience and humility, practicing strict asceticism combined with continuous prayer, and exercising his heart in the commandments of love for God and neighbor, Fr. Vitaly became a holy elder like his preceptors. Granted by God the gift of clairvoyance, he could see into people’s hearts and discern their past and future, in order to guide souls in the way of salvation. For decades he nurtured the people of Tbilisi with his enlightened, fatherly counsel. His love was truly sacrificial, for while enduring physical infirmities and deprivations he never spared himself in his pastoral labors. Living beyond this world, Elder Vitaly was truly an earthly angel and a heavenly man.

“Anyone who knew Fr. Vitaly, who had the joy of fellowship with him, knows what a holy life this great and wondrous elder led. An amazing and holy faith, boundless love, amazing and exemplary humility and obedience—all of this created that spiritual atmosphere which conveyed love to all who wanted to receive spiritual consolation from him. Brothers and sisters, he was indeed a holy elder. And I, in contact with him, repeatedly saw the sanctity that he imparted to all around him.… We should always remember that Fr. Vitaly is ever with us … and, as in life, he will always help us.”

—His Holiness Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, at Elder Vitaly’s funeral, 1992

300 pages, paperback, illustrated. $17.00

Book 5: Ascent to the Summit

In the words of Tertullian, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” In 2001, another martyr for the Orthodox Christian Faith took his place among that cloud of witnesses: Priest Igor Rozin of Russia’s predominantly Muslim Kabardino-Balkar Republic, located in the northern Caucasus Mountains. An alpine rescuer who saved those lost in the mountains, he was baptized at the age of 36, ordained to the priesthood at 42, and martyred by a Muslim extremist at 44. During his brief life as a pastor, he attained his true calling: the rescue of souls lost in the moral wastelands of modern society. His life was one of total self-sacrifice for the sake of those around him, whether Christian or Muslim.

Translated from Russian sources, this is the touching story of a man who lived to the fullest the Gospel teaching: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Despite frequent threats to his life by those who wanted to silence the preaching of Christ’s Gospel of peace, Fr. Igor remained heedless of his own personal safety in order to minister to those thirsting for words of life. Although he was a strong man, able to defend himself, he did not strike down his murderer, but meekly accepted his fate, thus witnessing to his flock and to the world that the Christian Faith is precious, even more than one’s own earthly life. Confirming that his sacrifice was pleasing to God, Fr. Igor met his martyric end on the commemoration day of a saint he greatly revered—St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, in whose diocese he lived and served.

Paperback 68 pages $8.00