Our next Reading will be “Ordinary Wonders: Stories of Unexpected Grace” starting November 2, 2021.

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm Online

The Deceitful Onion Bulb. A Blessing to Smuggle. The Conjuror of Rain. In this collection of stories as whimsical as their titles, award-winning author Olesia Nikolaeva poignantly recounts life for Christian believers in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. In a manner reminiscent of the bestselling Everyday Saints these tales reveal a common theme – the subtle, sometimes imperceptible movement of Divine Providence at work in the lives of saints and sinners alike. Her writings bring us to what the ancient Celts called “thin places” where the boundaries of heaven and earth meet and the sacred and the secular can no longer be distinguished.

About the Author: Olesia Nikolaeva is an award-winning author, poet, and essayist. She has been writing since her early youth and was first published at the age of seventeen. Bishop Tikhon (Shevkhunov), author of the 2011 bestseller Everyday Saints, called her “a trailblazer in Russian Orthodox prose.”

Join online at https://meet.google.com/fct-uhjo-jwq

Past Readings

The Blessed Surgeon by Archdeacon Vasiliy Marushchak

Childhood and Youth,
University and Early Work
1917: First Ordeals

“Doctor, you must become a priest!”
The Trial of the Doctors
First Arrest
Imprisonment and Exile (Part 1)

Imprisonment and Exile (Part 2)
Return to Freedom

Second Arrest and Exile
Return from Second Exile. Temptations

Third Arrest and Sentencing
Third Exile and War

Ministry at the Krasnoyarsk See
Ministry at the Tambov See
Ministry at the Crimean See (Part 1)

Ministry at the Crimean See (Part 2)

Ministry at the Crimean See (Part 3)
Cases and Miracles

Towards the End
The Archbishop’s Repose
The Glorification of the Archbishop and the Uncovering of his Relics

The Archbishop by Tihon Hieromonk

Chapters 1 & 2

Chapters 3 & 4

Chapter 5

Chapters 6 & 7

Chapters 8 & 9

Chapters 10 – 12

Chapters 13 & 14

Chapters 15 & 16

Chapters 17 & 18

Beginning to Pray by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

Chapter 1 – The Absence of God

Chapter 2 – Knocking at the Door

Chapter 3 – Going Inward (Part 1)

Chapter 3 – Going Inward (Part 2)

Chapter 4 – Managing Time

Chapter 5 – Addressing God, Chapter 6 – Two Meditations

Ascetics in the World

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 1, Chapters 5,6

Part 1, Chapters 7-9

Part 1, Chapters 10,11

Part 1, Chapters 12, 13

Part 1, Chapters 14, 15

Part 1, Chapters 16, 17

Part 1, Chapters 18, 19

Part 1, Chapter 20

Part 2, Chapters 1-12

Part 2, Chapters 13-28

Part 2, Chapters 29-45

The Holy Angels by Mother Alexandra

Book 1, Section 1, Chapter 1 through Book 1, Section 2, Chapter 5

Book 1, Section 3, Chapter 1 through Book 1, Section 4, Chapter 3

Book 1, Section 4, Chapter 4 through Book 1, Section 5, Chapter 5

Book 1, Section 5, Chapter 6 through Book 2, Section 1

Book 2, Section 2, Chapter 1 through Book 2, Section 4, Chapter 2

Book 2, Section 4, Chapter 3 through Book 2, Section 6, Chapter 4

Book 2, Section 6, Chapter 5 through the middle of Book 2, Section 8

Middle of Book 2, Section 8 through Book 3, Section 2, Chapter 1

Book 3, Section 2, Chapter 2 through Book 3, Section 3, Chapter 5

Book 3, Section 3, Chapter 6 through Book 3, Section 3, Chapter 9

Book 3, Section 3, Chapter 10 through Book 3, Section 4

Book 3, Section 5, Chapter 1 through Epilogue

Pearl of Great Price by Sergei Hackel

Opening through page 19 including chapters 1 and 2 (Deprivation and The Straightening of the Way)

Pages 20-36 including Chapter 3 and a portion of Chapter 4 (Monasticism and The House at Rue de Lourmel)

Pages 36-49 concluding Chapter 4 (The House at Rue de Lourmel)

Pages 50-68, Chapter 5 (Orthodox Action)

Pages 69-84, Chapter 6 and a portion of Chapter 7 (The Second Commandment and Forebodings)

Pages 84-97, concluding Chapter 7 (Forebodings)

Pages 98-113, beginning Chapter 8 (War)

Pages 113-130, concluding Chapter 8 and a portion of Chapter 9 (War and Martyrdom)

Pages 130-149, concluding Chapter 9 (Martyrdom)

Wounded by Love by St Porphyrios

1-25 (The Path to the Holy Mountain, The Holy Mountain – Kavsokalyvia)

25-48 (Evia)

46-69 (The Polyclinic Hospital in Athens)

70-95 (Saint Nicholas at Kallisia, The Holy Monastery at the Transfiguration at Milesi, Kavsokalyvia, On the Church)

96-112 (On Divine Eros)

113-133 (On Prayer)

134-157 (On Spiritual Struggle)

158-179 (On the Monastic Life, On the Mystery of Repentance)

180-194 (On Love for One’s Neighbour, On Divine Providence)

195-217 (On the Upbringing of Children, On Dispositions of the heart)

218-247 (On Creation, On Illness, On the Gift of Clear Sight)

Reading and Book Club