"Elizaveta Iurievna Kuzmina-Karavaeva Skobtsova, later known as Mother Maria, was a Russian Orthodox religious thinker, poet and artist. Her multi-faceted legacy includes articles, poems, art, and drama. In the 1910s she was part of the literary milieu of St. Petersburg and was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. She fled Russia soon after the Bolsheviks' takeover and lived in Paris, where she became a nun. In 1935, she participated in organizing the so-called Orthodox Action, which was designed to help Russian immigrants in France. She and her fellow-workers from Orthodox Action opened a house for homeless and sick immigrants in Paris. During the Nazi occupation of the city, the house was transformed into a refuge for Jews and displaced persons. Mother Maria and her son were arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and died in the Ravensbruck camp in Germany. Mother Maria's selfless devotion to people and her death as a martyr will never be forgotten. In 2004, the Holy Synod confirmed the glorification of Mother Maria." - from Columbia University Libraries Special Collection link

New Book on Saint Tikhon of Moscow

As a student of history and an author, I know the deep value of having access to primary sources in order to piece together timelines, articles, essays, content, and chapters for biographies, articles, treatises, and other secondary sources.  This current volume begins there and is a sensational repository of vital primary source material of the life of Saint Tikhon of Moscow, but also of the early days of Orthodoxy in America. Both history and spirit.  To have it set free from its original tongue into English has long been awaited, but is now complete and in an exemplary fashion.  One to be expected from the fine array of scholars put to the task and labors of such a project.  Thank you all.

But, even more finely arrayed all along the reading of this genuine tapestry of patristic love and devotion are vignette after vignette of paternal tenderness and counsel.  The use of scripture in these Arch Pastoral homilies and renderings for the flock is so rich and full of Old and New Testament and Apostolic urgings for the people of God, that it should put to rest all Protestant complaints that Orthodoxy is weak in its application of scripture.  Reading these words one gets the genuine sense that Saint Tikhon of Moscow is not only familiar with the scriptures, but that the shepherd like tenderness that he uses to keep the flock moving ahead and safe is genuinely a part of his depths and not just tacked on in the sermons.  His use of the Canon only amplifies his love for his flock - a genuine proof to his sanctity.  That we are able to read it, contemplate it, meditate on it and do so in the very sacred precincts and on the holy soil upon which he stood here in America is only cream on the surface - on the surface of such wonder.

Of sweet joy to all who have stood on the ground of the monastery and church will be the address to those gathered at the Consecration of Saint Tikhon's Monastery and Church on 17/30 May 1906.  Pure honey.

For all students of history, all theologians of the American Orthodox scene, and all people with a genuine heart for the gentle firmness of a pastoral saint - this book is a must.

Order at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/St-Tikhon-Moscow-Instructions-Teachings-ebook/dp/B01IQFTO0W



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