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Praying Acathistos hymns is a widely spread and cherished custom of Orthodox Christians. Many of them add an Acathistos either of their own choice, or according to their specific needs or upon the advice of their spiritual father, to their morning or evening prayers. However, it's rather difficult for those who do not master Church-Slavonic or Byzantine Greek to understand what exactly is said or meant in the Acathistos. Therefore this book is a big enrichment, allowing them as well as those who want to become acquainted with this exceptional form of Orthodox devotion to read and to pray several of the best known and most often used Acathistos-hymns in a modern language. Upon the request of His Eminence Simon, Archbishop of Brussels and Belgium and of The Hague and the Netherlands, only hymns originating from before the October revolution and which therefore are better known and enjoy greater venerability have been selected for this book. Some of these hymns have a strong poetical expression, and most of all, a deep theological insight. Other hymns are the joyful cries of exultation of a believing soul singing her gratefulness to the Mother of God for the received blessings. Let those whose heart is hardened and bitter seek the help of the Mother of God who mollifies the wicked hearts. Let those who feel that their mind and ability to think is growing weak, or who want to study the Holy Scripture or theology, appeal to Her Who increases intelligence.Let those who are looking for protection and security consider the miraculous vision of Saint Andrew, who could contemplate how the Mother of God spread her Protective Veil over the Christ-loving people of Constantinople. Let those who lose the way and go off track in life look at the Virgin, who shows the Way to her Son, Who is the Eternal Truth. Let those who in this age corrupted by sexism, seek purity of the heart as well as of the body, resort to the Unfading Blossom of virginity. Then the gates will open and they will contemplate God and Christ will turn the water of our struggle into the wine of joy. Let those who want to protect their house against fire and burglars, or against the fire which burns in their own hearts, fire of lust or hate, seek their comfort by the Unconsumed burning Bush, the symbol of the Mother of God which was shown to Moses. Let those who are full of sorrow or who have sad and despondent people in their families and among their friends, turn to Her Who is the Joy of all who sorrow.Archimandrite Thomas, Hegumen of the Monastery of the Mother of God the Joy of All Who sorrow, Pervijze, BelgiumOn the feast of Saint Makarios the Great

Foreword by the PublisherArchimandrite Nikon, the senior priest of the church of Saint Mary Magdalene in The Hague, often reminds in his sermons the congregation that 'We are born in order to die. This body, this outward form, is not given to us forever. Only our soul is eternal, and everyone has his own individual soul, without the possibility to reincarnate. The soul is given only one chance to save itself within a period of time determined by God'.This book gives an idea of what happens to the soul after death and how we can prepare ourselves for that time.The first part of the book tells how the living can help the souls of the dead achieve deliverance from sufferings, full or partial, and come closer to God. It should be noted that this deliverance is temporary, it will last till the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Last Judgment, when Christ will decide the further fate of each soul: whether it deserves eternal blessedness or eternal torment.The core of the second part is the narrative of the monk Gregory, the disciple of the holy elder Basil the New, who lived in Constantinople in the first half of the tenth century. Gregory relates how in his dream he was visited by the soul of Theodora who was also the elder Basil's disciple. Theodora had been seeking God since a young age. When she reached middle age and was widowed, she became the elder Basil's spiritual daughter and was tonsured a nun. Theodora did Christian spiritual practices under St. Basil's guidance till her old age. After Theodora's death Gregory was eager to learn about her fate after death, probably in order to make certain that the elder had really gained God's grace. Gregory beseeched the elder, and once, in his dream Theodora appeared and told him about the ordeals her soul went through after being separated from the body.It later had a great influence on Christian literature in many countries of Europe and in Russia. It was included in many collections of spiritual literature as well as in handbooks for priests. It was copied, expanded or shortened; ecclesiastics sometimes added to it their own ideas about human afterlife or their own spiritual visions of life beyond the grave. It should be noted that the ordeals which a monk's or a nun's soul undergoes after death are much more severe than those faced by lay people. As the hermit Theophane from the Solovetsky Islands said, if he had known how hard the fulfilment of monastic vows would be, he would not have received the full tonsure from fear of the heavy responsibility at the judgment after death. The person who makes monastic vows becomes in God's eyes equal to an angel, and unto whomsoever much is given, much shall be required (Luke 12:48). Therefore it may be advisable for the reader not to focus on specific details of ecclesiastics' experiences after death, or the conventions of this or that time, or the personality of the monk Gregory and later narrators writing about his vision. But he must try to accept this story as the heavenly forces' message, that without seeking Christ and the Mother of God, without the Church's support, the Christian soul can achieve salvation neither in life nor after death. The Christian should consciously prepare for the trials after death during his earthly life: through prayer, repentance and confession. Marijcke Tooneman and Guram Kochi, PublishersThe Hague, May 2009

Foreword by the PublisherIn the Christian tradition the Patericon is a collection of short stories which contains the description of the lives, spiritual practices and, sometimes, teachings of the Christian practitioners, monks or ascetics. Their experiences on the Path to finding God in their hearts has been a great help to thousands of practitioners who have followed the spiritual Path, strengthening their spirit, protecting them from dangers and helping them to see the next step on the Path. Patericons were also a favourite reading for those worldly people who were concerned with the question of their posthumous fate, and who tried to remember God amidst their worldly pursuits. Each Patericon describes the life and practices of a certain monastic community e.g. Synai Patericon, Egyptian Patericon or, later, the Kievski and Volocolamski Patericons.The Solovetzki Patericon was published anonymously in 1873 in St. Petersburg. It tells us of the monks and hermits who lived and practised on the Solovetzki Isles in the White Sea, in the deep North of Russia. Solovetzki monasteries and hermitages, with regard to their spiritual achievements and influence on the Russian Orthodox Church, can be compared to the influence that the monasteries of the Athos mountain had on the Greek Orthodox Church. One of the examples is Saint Eleazar of Anzer, who founded the Trinity Hermitage of Anzer. He was the spiritual mentor of the future patriarch Nicon, who later reformed the entire Russian Orthodox Church. A special feature of Solovetzki Patericon is that it also contains a description of the life of the monks and practitioners who humbly practised the Christian path all their lives and still did not achieve sanctity. These stories help to understand the depth of monastic life even more.The reader will find interesting stories about the events in the lives of the monks which led them to spiritual illumination, or pointed out the path to further development of the soul. Marijcke Tooneman

This book contains a small selection of the letters of the German Protestant mystic and poet Gerhard Tersteegen (1697 - 1769) to his followers. Tersteegen was a representative of the pietism movement, or rather, one of its directions, the so-called "quiet in the land", according to the psalmist: "For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land." (Ps. 35:20, KJV)In the book "Great Saints" by Walter Nigg, Associate Professor at the University of Zurich (Plugsma Publishers, Amsterdam, 1958), Tersteegen is called "a saint of Protestantism" and is ranked among such great saints as Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross.The letters are selected on the following topics, which are vital to every Christian:I. Overview of the inner Christian Life. II. On the receptive Acceptance of the Grace of God. III. On Prayer and inner Work. IV. About God's Peace. V. About the Childlikeness in Christ. VI. On the Struggle against Sin. Spiritual Warfare. VII. On the Cross and Suffering. VIII. About the Life of God in us. IX. On the Church and Church Life. Tersteegen offers a way of direct appeal to God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. He explains what are the rules and stages of this way and how a Christian can follow it in his everyday life, even without changing anything outwardly. The main thing on this way is a passive, "accepting" attitude in the matter of saving the soul: namely, salvation comes only from God, not from the person himself, and you need to learn not to hinder God's work of saving you. These tips can especially help those who have already experienced spiritual insights and pray God to give them to them daily: "Give us this day our life-sustaining bread." (Mt. 6:11). Guram Kochi and Marijcke Tooneman, translatorsThe Hague, May 2023

Vader Alexander Schmemann was in de vorige eeuw een Russisch Orthodox priester en theoloog. Na de Russische Revolutie is hij als emigrant in Parijs terecht gekomen, waar de Russische gemeenschap snel groeide. Van jongs af aan voelde hij zich tot het orthodoxe geloof en haar rijke Liturgie aangetrokken. Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog ging hij studeren aan de universiteit van Parijs en het orthodoxe seminarie St.Sergius en hij trad in het huwelijk. Na de oorlog werd hij aan dit seminarie docent kerkgeschiedenis. Deze jaren halverwege de vorige eeuw waren in de Franse en Duitse Rooms-Katholieke Kerk de jaren van de Liturgische Beweging. In Parijs had de jonge orthodoxe priester een levendige interesse voor en nauwe banden met andere kerken in de stad. Hij voelde de noodzaak tot vernieuwing en erkende het verlangen van de rooms-katholieken om inspiratie te putten uit de traditie van de Kerkvaders, die in de Orthodoxe Kerk zo levend aanwezig is gebleven. Anderzijds voelde Vader Alexander ook steeds meer de noodzaak om in zijn eigen kerk allerlei in de loop der eeuwen ontstane tradities en rituelen eens tegen het licht te houden. Zo verschoof Vader Alexanders aanvankelijke interesse in de kerkgeschiedenis steeds meer naar een nadenken over het eigene van de Liturgie. Zijn proefschrift droeg de titel Introduction to Liturgical Theology, ter introductie van een theologie over de liturgie. De auteur wilde daarmee zeggen dat juist de Liturgie een bron is van en voor de theologie. In New York zette hij zijn docentschap voort en schreef een baanbrekend oeuvre dat zowel in zijn eigen kerk en in vele andere kerken als zeer inspirerend ervaren werd en wordt tot op vandaag. Voor Vader Alexander was het Paasfeest het belangrijkste christelijke feest, zoals dat ook al het geval was in de eerste eeuwen van het christendom. Heel het kerkelijk jaar is daaromheen gebouwd. Dit kleine en bescheiden werkje over de 'Heilige Week' kan gezien worden als een bondige samenvatting van het gehele christelijke gedachtengoed. Na Vader Schmemanns overlijden heeft zijn vrouw Juliana zijn dagboek gevonden, vertaald en uitgegeven. In dit voorliggende boek over de Heilige Week zijn zijn theologie en zijn persoonlijke beleving van de Liturgie, zoals verwoord in zijn dagboek, dus naast elkaar te vinden. Vader Alexander Schmemann was bovendien bezorgd over de vervolgde Russisch-Orthodoxe gelovigen in de voormalige Sovjet-Unie. Hij gaf met veel passie in uitzendingen van Radio Liberty korte beschouwingen over het geloof, die de mensen in Rusland konden ontvangen. Zo leerde ook Alexander Solzjenitsyn, schrijver in gevangenschap, Vader Alexander kennen. De dagboeken doen hier verslag van. Als vanzelfsprekend is daarom het korte verhaal "De Paasprocessie" van Solzjenitsyn aan het eind van dit boek opgenomen. Daar is ook het een herdenkingsrede van Vader John Meyendorf, collega en vriend van Alexander Schmemann, te vinden. Thomas van der Horst (vertaler) is theoloog en geestelijk verzorger in Heerlen. Hij heeft zijn opleiding gevolgd aan het Grootseminarie Rolduc te Kerkrade, studeerde af aan de Katholieke Theologische Universiteit Utrecht-Amsterdam, haalde vervolgens het diploma HBO-Ouderzorg (NCOI) en haalde aan de Christelijke Hogeschool Ede het certificaat Ouderenadviseur. Momenteel oriënteert hij zich op de Oud-Katholieke Kerk en zal daar aanvullende studies doen met het oog op de priesterwijding