New Pray Always App from St. Alexis Press

Those who use a smart phone or tablet may be interested in this free and excellent Orthodox prayer app, Pray Always, from St. Alexis Press, which is associated with Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, an OCA parish in the Diocese of the South.  Among the prayers included in this attractive app are the Jesus Prayer, Morning Prayers, Evening Prayers, Canons for Holy Communion, Akathist to Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ, Akathist to Most Holy Lady Theotokos, Order of Preparation for Communion, Canon of Repentance, Prayers Before Communion, Prayers After Communion, Prayers at Church, Daily Troparia and Kontakia, Sunday Troparia and Kontakia, Intercessions, and Miscellaneous Prayers.   There is also a section about the Orthodox Christian faith.  One can  upgrade this app at a cost $2.99, and personalize their prayers with one’s Patron Saint's name, your Spiritual Father's name, and lists of living and departed who you wish to pray for.  The only thing which they could have added is the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, but that could hopefully be added in a future update.  The stated goal for this app is to allow even the busiest person to take time to pray.

See St. Alexis Press

Just Published - The Explanation of the Epistle of St. Paul To the Galatians by Blessed Theophylact

This volume contains Blessed Theophylact’s commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. Although St. Paul wrote this letter to address the particular issue of circumcision that was troubling the young churches of Galatia, its purpose goes much deeper. A central theme of the Epistle is the question of the essence of the Christian life—is it based on correct practices or on faith? St. Paul explains the purpose of the Judaic law, and the necessity of moving beyond its practice to the new, very different life based on faith in Christ. The depth of the Apostle’s care for his flock is evident as he strives to draw them away from the old understanding of sin, into the new knowledge of the glory and love of Christ.


See Chrysostom Press

The Eastern Church in the Spiritual Marketplace: American Conversions to Orthodox Christianity

Amy Slagle is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“Her study is an important contribution to several fields. It adds significantly to the treatment of conversion in the sociology of religion, which has tended to focus mainly on Protestantism and secondarily on Catholicism. The book is extraordinarily well written and organized, combining data and theory with an ease seldom found in academic prose.” —Andrew Buckser, Professor of Anthropology at Purdue University and co-editor of The Anthropology of Religious Conversion

“This is a fascinating collective biography of American spiritual seekers. Slagle’s study simultaneously broaches issues of personal identity, ethnicity in religion, what it means to be American, and the conflicting roles that race might play in the process of conversion to Orthodox Christianity in twenty-first century America.” —Roy R. Robson, Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

The Eastern Orthodox converts in this study are participants in what scholars today refer to as the “spiritual marketplace” or quest culture of expanding religious diversity and individual choice-making that marks the post-World War II American religious landscape. In this highly readable ethnographic study, Slagle explores the ways in which converts, clerics, and lifelong church members use marketplace metaphors in describing and enacting their religious lives. Slagle conducted participant observation and formal semi-structured interviews in Orthodox churches in Pittsburgh, PA—the “Holy Land” of North American Orthodoxy—and Jackson, MS, in the Bible Belt—where the Orthodox Church in America has marshaled significant resources to build mission parishes.

Relatively few ethnographic studies have examined Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the U.S., and Slagle’s book fills a significant gap. This lucidly written book is an ideal selection for courses on the sociology and anthropology of religion, contemporary Christianity, and religious change. Scholars of Orthodox Christianity, as well as clerical and lay people interested in Eastern Orthodoxy, will find this book to be of great appeal.

See Northern Illinois University Press

Patriarchs of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the Nineteenth Century

"Nineteenth century Syrian Orthodox history marks a period of strife as the Church struggles to survive amid oppressive regimes from the Ottoman Empire and their corrupt local magistrates. At the same time Catholic missionaries from Europe arrive on Syrian soil in hopes of converting Orthodox believers. The combination tolls devastation for the Syrian Orthodox Church as its population dwindles and begins to shift geographically. Such is the predicament of the internal and external conflicts to which the Syrian patriarchs of the time must respond. Keeping this in mind, Metropolitan Ephrem Barsoum begins his chronicling of the nineteenth century Syrian patriarchs as they persevere to keep their Christian faith intact against foreign and domestic opposition."

See Gorgias Press

Spiritual Elders: Charisma and Tradition in Russian Orthodoxy

[Author] "Irina Paert’s manuscript promises to be a seminal book in Russian history, especially the history of Russian Orthodoxy. Paert has done a prodigious amount of work tracking down manuscripts in both central and provincial archives stretching from Helsinki to Kazan to Tatarstan. The insights that she provides into the workings and evolving nature of Russian monasticism are invaluable.” —Christine Worobec, author of Possessed: Women, Witches, and Demons in Imperial Russia


Spiritual elders (startsy) are a quintessential part of Russian Orthodox spirituality, yet scholars have given relatively little focus to them. Elders whose authority came not from their position within the institutional church but from their reputation for personal holiness were mediating agents between official and popular Orthodoxy. Acting as teachers, spiritual directors, counselors, and prophets, elders represented a particular form of ministry within the Church. The informal source of elders’ authority meant that their position was often in conflict with the bureaucratized Synod.

While eldership re-emerged in the late eighteenth century as a relatively marginal phenomenon that had limited meaning within the monastic context, by the turn of the nineteenth century elders had developed into a symbol of Russian national spirituality. In Paert’s highly readable book, she looks at both Imperial and Soviet Russia and examines the social and cultural contexts in which startsy operated, demonstrating how eldership was appropriated by both the elites and the lower classes.

A significant contribution to the debate about the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in modernizing Russian society, Paert’s study shows that elders represented both the weaknesses and the strengths of Russian Orthodoxy’s response to the challenges of modernity. Spiritual Elders promises to stimulate further discussion on the problems of spiritual authority, popular belief, the impact of a religious identity on a national one, and the interactions between church and society in the modern world.

Irina Paert has published extensively on the history of Old Believers and the Russian Orthodox Church. She is a researcher and a lecturer at Tallinn University in Estonia.


See Northern Illinois Univeristy Press

Greece’s Dostoevsky: The Theological Vision of Alexandros Papadiamandis

"Alexandros Papadiamandis (Papadiamantis) (1851-1911) was the most important literary figure of nineteenth-century Greece and arguably of modern Greek literature more generally. Through his lively, tender, and profound short stories of the simple lives of the Orthodox faithful of his native island of Skiathos, Papadiamandis reveals a world of organically lived Orthodoxy, a world largely lost in the disintegrating order of modern life. As with Dostoevsky, Papadiamantis enjoyed close friendships with holy men of his age, such as St. Nicholas Planas. Likewise, as with Dostoevsky, he does not portray a romantic, ideal world but rather a profoundly human world of struggle that always has the possibility of transfiguration through life in Christ and His Church. ..."

The author, Anestis Keselopoulos, is Professor of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology at the Theological School of Aristotle University of Thessalonica. His theological works include Man and the Environment: A Study of Saint Symeon the New Theologian, published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press and Passions and Virtues According to Saint Gregory Palamas, published by St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press.

See Protecting Veil Press

New Monograph on the History of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad Published

As reported by the official website of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY, a monograph entitled The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, 1925 - 1938. Jurisdictional Conflicts and Relations with the Moscow Church Authority has been published by St Tikhon's Orthodox University.

See Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary