Which heretics ?

[Sdcn.Ephrem]

The biography "St. John of Kronstadt- A Prodigal Saint" goes into this.

Do you recommend this book, Matushka?

[m. Evfrosinia]

Unless you're doing extensive research on St. John of Kronstadt or on that period of Church History, or perhaps are a clergyman researching St. John's teaching and practices, I would not recommend it. It is an excellent work of scholarship and very comprehensive, and includes a lot of material on that entire period. The book received several honors and was widely advertised when it came out. But it is far from a saint's life. To be fair, the writer did not set out to write a saint's life; it was supposed to be a scholarly work all along, for her academic career, not for the Church. Dr. Kizenko, the author, is Orthodox and the daughter of a ROCA(MP) priest, and that helps the book a lot. She's familiar with Orthodox terminology, the services, what exactly an Orthodox priest does, and how he lives, so the book doesn't have any of the annoying mistakes that non-Orthodox attempting to write about Orthodox saints often make. What I found most disturbing is that the author really takes apart St. John's diaries and what is known about his life, and a lot of what she dug up and chose to deal with is not at all edifying; I found some of it rather shocking. She also writes about those that opposed St. John, such as the writer Leskov, and the book even includes some of their cartoons. Not only was that not edifying, I found it upsetting. And she goes into a rather long comparison of St. John and the Jean Vianney, the Cure of Ars, a Roman Catholic near contemporary. It's well done and interesting enough for someone studying comparative religion, but not of much value for an Orthodox Christian looking for a spiritually uplifting book. So be careful with it.

[Sdcn.Ephrem]

Many thanks, Matushka. Please pray for the Subdeacon Ephrem, preparing for ordination, and the handmaidens of God Elizabeth, Naomi, and Helen. We always remember Lesna and hope to bring our daughters to visit there when they are older.

[m. Evfrosinia]

Thank you for your prayers, and we'll remember you, too.

[Maria]

Where is Lesna, and do they have a website?

[m. Evfrosinia]

We are located in the village of Provemont, Normandy, about 1 1/2 hours from Paris, on the way to Rouen. We have a website: http://www.monasterelesna.org/, but unfortunately it's almost entirely in Russian. We just don't have the time or enough people to translate it into English or even French.

[Maria]

We are located in the village of Provemont, Normandy, about 1 1/2 hours from Paris, on the way to Rouen. We have a website: http://www.monasterelesna.org/, but unfortunately it's almost entirely in Russian. We just don't have the time or enough people to translate it into English or even French.

Ojala, I can read French and Spanish, but not Russian (yet).