Official End of the Hiatus

Well, I’m happy to say the pilgrimage to Holy Archangels was a success, with the only temptation being the worst interstate traffic I’ve ever seen in my life when we were coming back Sunday. In this way, what should have been an eight and a half-hour trip became a thirteen hour one. But as good Ручьёв has reminded me, ‘Rejoice as you feel the cross upon yourself, for it is a sign that you are following the Lord on the path of salvation which leads to heaven. Endure a bit’ (St Theophan the Recluse).

In other good news, just before I left for the monastery a good thing happened. I found a stash of various articles that had been missing for some months, and which should provide some fodder for future posts. Just a few things I found are: a Greek Life of St Theodosius the Coenobiarch with some info on the history of his coenobium published there in the Holy Land, Solovyov’s ‘Short Story of Antichrist’ in English, and an issue of a wonderful Greek magazine on religion and culture with articles about Elder Iakovos of Evvoia, fairy tales, Fr Dumitru Staniloae, library technology, and Dostoevsky. I’m still hoping to find Kontoglou’s comparison of Western religious art and Orthodox iconography, however.

The icon above is by Lasha Kintsurashvili.