Prayer and the Romanov Royal Martyrs

As you read through today’s issue of Microsynaxis, if you are encouraged, challenged, enlightened, or find any value whatsoever in this labor of love, please consider joining the community of Eighth Day Members at any level.

1. Bible & Fathers: “The Foundation of Prayer” by St. Macarius of Egypt

Thursday: Col. 4:2-9. Lk. 11:47-54; 12:1. Online here.

Friday: Heb. 8:1-6. Lk. 12:8-12. Online here.

Saturday: 2 Cor. 5:1-10. Lk. 9:1-6. Online here.

Sunday: Heb. 2:2-10. Lk. 8:41-56. Online here.

Today’s Patristic Word comes from a fourth-century desert father on the most fundamental practice of the spiritual life. Here’s the opening of the sixth of fifty spiritual homilies by St Macarius of Egypt:

The true foundation of prayer is this: to be very vigilant over thoughts and to pray in much tranquility and peace in order not to be a source of offense to others. For such a person, if he received God’s grace, will pray to the end in tranquility and will edify many others much more. “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14.33).

Read the rest of the excerpt from homily six here. The full homily will be included in Synaxis this weekend.

2. Books & Culture: The Romanov Royal Martyrs: What Silence Could Not Conceal by St John the Forerunner Monastery

The Romanov Royal Martyrs: What Silence Could Not Conceal draws on letters, testimonies, diaries, memoirs, and other texts never before published in English to present a unique biography of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. The work aims to present the Royal Martyrs through the prism of their spiritual grandeur and the purity of their souls. A lively portrait of the royal family emerges from their own personal writings and in the writings of those who lived very close to them. The result is a psychographic biography that explores the essential character of the royal family in a deeper and inspiring way. Historians who worked on the project include Nicholas B. A. Nicholson, Helen Azar, and Helen Rappaport, all noted specialists in Romanov history. The book features a 48-page color photo insert. The acclaimed Russian artist Olga Shirnina colorized these high-quality images which appear here in print for the first time. Available in North America in late October 2019.

516 pp. paper $40.00

Get your copy from Eighth Day Books here (the exclusive supplier in the U.S.).

3. Essays: “An American Shrine to Honor the Russian Royal Martyrs” by Andrew Gould

To learn more about the Royal Martyrs, check out these beautiful (but a bit graphic at the execution) videographical recreations of the arrest and assasination of the Romanov family. They are “published in the framework of the project for the book “The Romanov Royal Martyrs: What Silence Could Not Conceal.”

The Martyrdom: Murder of the Romanovs – Part I

The Martyrdom: Murder of the Romanovs – Part II

And then check out this article about the creation of a remarkably beautiful American shrine and reliquary for the Russian Royal Martyrs, “commissioned by an American convert to Orthodoxy as a gift to the Hermitage of the Holy Cross, a Russian Orthodox monastery in West Virginia, USA.”

The donor and monastery requested a shrine that would reflect the very best of American furniture design and craftsmanship—to unite this cultural heritage with the traditional liturgical form of an icon kiot and reliquary. Since it would hold relics of royal saints it would be fitting for it to exhibit particular splendor and refinement. A second kiot was to hold a reliquary of the Optina Elders.

Read the whole piece here (it’s full of great photos).

Finally, don’t forget, if you’ve been encouraged, challenged, enlightened, or found any value whatsoever in my labor of love through Microsynaxis (or any of the other many EDI endeavors), please do consider supporting the work of renewing culture by joining the community of Eighth Day Members. Among many other perks, you’ll begin receiving the weekly member’s issue of Synaxis, which this coming weekend will include:

• Liturgy: Feast of St Raphael Hawaweeny of Brooklyn
• Fathers: Homily Six by St Macarius of Egypt
• Poetry: “Texit” by Joshua Sturgill
• Books & Culture: “Introduction to the Visionary Novels of George Macdonald” by W. H. Auden
• Essays et al: “George MacDonald and the Sacramental Imagination” by Vigen Guroian
• Essays et al: “Foreword to The Undistorted Image” by Fr. Georges Florovsky
• Essays et al: “Oikophilia: In Memoriam Sir Roger Scruton” by Erin Doom

Thanks for considering!

In Christ,

Erin "John" Doom

Eighth Day Institute, Founder & Director