Archaeology · Faith · Art
A celebrated Etruscan fresco of the late fourth century BC from the François Tomb at Vulci depicts a cruel ritual of the Trojan War. The central scene of the composition is the sacrifice of Trojan prisoners, which the Greek hero Achilles performs in honour of his fallen friend Patroclus. The
The East · Architecture · Faith · Heritage
Until 1932 Tashkent had a church of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. It was built at the state's expense on the initiative of the Governor-General of Turkestan, Baron Alexandr Vrevsky, and the construction cost 90,000 roubles. The church stood on Pushkinskaya Street, at the junction with Assakinskaya.
The Golden Age · Faith · Books · Heritage · People
In the Trans-Volga forests on the river Kerzhenets, not far from Semyonov in the Nizhny Novgorod region, stands a cross over the grave of Hieromonk Sophonty, one of the most revered fathers of the Old Believers. Tradition names Sophonty as one of seven Solovetsky monks who fled the monastery
Archive · Faith · Books · Monarchies · Observations · People
A mural in Tomsk showing Saint Theodore of Tomsk, also known as Elder Fyodor Kuzmich, and Emperor Alexander I, whom many consider to be one and the same man. I am inclined to think so too. The man who called himself Fyodor Kuzmich appeared in 1836 in Perm Governorate, was
Coming Up · Faith · Art · Museums · Paris
The Surbarán exhibition at the Louvre opens with the "Crucifixion" that launched the painter's fame in Seville in 1627. The Dominicans of the monastery of San Pablo el Real commissioned 21 paintings from the young Surbarán, and this vast canvas, almost three metres high, became the
The Golden Age · Faith · Art · Books · Museums · Heritage
A French museum has once again fallen victim to a brazen theft. On the night of Sunday, the cover of a book created by Salvador Dalí was stolen from a small private museum of modern art in the town of Issoire in central France. The cover weighs around 150 kilograms,
Faith · Society
A server holds the phelonion of Father Photius Parks during the mass baptism of adults at the mission of Saint Anthony the Great of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese in Hendersonville, North Carolina. At present, about 24% of all Orthodox Christians in the United States are adults who have
Faith · Observations · People
Our time needs men and women who have the courage to do good, even when it involves sacrifice. Draw near to those who are lonely, support the weary and seek out those who have lost their way. Have the courage to forgive, to begin anew and to enter into dialogue.
Faith · New York · Society · Mores · Nature
On 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is regarded as the patron of animals and of nature, animals are blessed in churches all over the world. Stories of his sermon to the birds and of the wolf of Gubbio are associated with the name of Francis,
Faith · Mores · New York · Nature
The blessing of the animals at the Episcopal Church of Saint John in New York on 4 October, the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is regarded as the patron saint of animals and nature. Francis is associated with the tale of his sermon to the birds and
Archive · Faith · People
I live among people who see me and do not understand me, or with the Invisible One whom I cannot comprehend. The darkness of my sins veils him, even when the deadly lead had grown numb in my body; a gleam of his gaze flashed before me when the blade
Faith · Art · People
Saint John of God carrying a sick man. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. 1672. Seville, the church of San Jorge at the Hospital de la Caridad John of God is a real historical figure of the sixteenth century: in his youth he was a soldier, and in maturity he went through a