Nun Cornelia (Rees)
Rating: 2|Votes: 1
The late fifteenth, early sixteenth centuries saw a conflict arise in Russia that had some parallels to events and movements in Western Christianity of the time. As the Spanish Inquisition was in full swing against insincere converts to Christianity, and the dissolution of monastery property had already successfully killed Catholic monasticism in some northern European countries, the existential question of “to have or not to have” was reaching like an aftershock the comparatively sheltered religious life of Orthodox Russia.
Howard Huws
The Lord made Wales a hilly land facing the prevailing Atlantic winds, thus blessing it with abundant rain and fresh waters. Our country is equally saturated with a rich inheritance of Christian belief and practice, so one should not be surprised to learn that holy wells are numerous and prominent features of the geographical and spiritual landscape. Even a strict definition of the term “holy well” allows there to be several hundred here, and diligent research is bringing even more to light once dismissed as objects of superstition, they are now the subject of increasing interest.
Vladimir Gurbolikov
Not long ago, I became involved in a discussion about holy water. It began with an article published on an Orthodox internet site on the exploration of the physical and chemical properties of holy water. The publication did not pass unnoticed in worldly scientific circles, who laughed at what they saw as the Church’s “readiness to accept any false science that testifies in favor of Orthodoxy”. I have long been interested in the topic of false science, and could not help commenting on the site.
Rating: 10|Votes: 3
Then novice Igor Brus walked up and told me conspiratorially, “Don’t sleep tonight, or you’ll sleep through the whole Kingdom of Heaven! Come at midnight to the well. We’ll look at the bottom and see if the Lord will give us a sign—if it will “boil” as it is blessed. Tomorrow is the “Jordan”
St. John of Kronstadt
What is there to wash away in Thee, Who art more pure than the sun; or to enlighten in Thee, the Sun of Righteousness? -- But is it for us sinful and short-sighted ones, deprived of far-sightedness, to gainsay the Lord Himself, Who created all tthings and Who wisely does much that is beyond word and reason?