Feasts and Holidays

The road to sainthood takes a lifetime to travel... Late in the fourth century, Christians are labeled enemeies of the Roman Empire-hounded, arrested, tortured, and excuted. Macrina and her husband Basil, once-wealthy Christians, flee with their small son to the mountainous forests south of the Black Sea. There, Macrina embarks on a seven-year jurney of enexpected tests and tials that will take her through a harsh and hungry wilderness pilgrimage, only to plunge her into poverty and danger on the streets of Neocaesarea. So begins Macrina's adventure in faith, as she undertakes the process of becoming one of the most influential women in sacred history, the mother and grandmother of St. Basil the Great, St Gregory of Nyssa, and St Macrina the Younger.

John Thomas’ intimate work documents the Sacred Holy Week services of the Orthodox Church. The journey climaxes into the most hopeful day of all Christianity – Easter commonly referred to as “Pascha”. Each day of Holy Week captures both the community’s prayerful participation and the spirituality of each service as experienced by the faithful worldwide.

Holy Saturday is the Sabbath—the Day of Rest to which all other Sabbaths point. As Christ rested from the work of creation on the seventh day, now, He rests from His work of re-creation, which He finished on Good Friday, the sixth day. It is also the day on which Christ begins to free Hades captives. Thus it is a day of hushed expectation—solemn, yet already deeply joyful. Little books for little hands. 24 pages each.

This misunderstood moment—is essential to what it means to be Christian. The Transfiguration of Christ is one of the most impressive and mysterious... More

This in-depth study on the realm of death presents a message of hope held by the first generation of Christians and the early church. Using Scripture, patristic tradition, early Christian poetry, and liturgical texts, Archbishop Hilarion explores the mysterious and enigmatic event of Christ’s descent into Hades and its consequences for the human race.