The BackShop Journal

Today the Orthodox churches that have kept the Julian calendar are celebrating the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. They are a group of Roman soldiers who became martyrs for their Christian faith in the year 320 in the city of Sebaste in central Asia Minor. St. Constantine the Great issued an edict in t...

"... My dear children, thank God, you have received communion: as one soul, you all stood before the Saviour. I believe that the Saviour was on this Earth with you all, and during the Last Judgment this prayer will again be before God, like your mercy toward each other and toward me. Oh, how you are...

Centuries are passing, and the story of the saint continues to inspire the hearts of the faithful, strengthening the faith, taking us back, ever again, to its very essence. All those who received her help tell the same story about a woman in a black cloak. The miraculous visions of St. Petka (St. Pa...

Today, on October 8, the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of St. Sergius of Radonezh, probably the greatest Russian saint of all time. On the occasion of this date, Sergei Lukianenko, a Russian sci-fi and fantasy author, talks about his relationship with the "Abbot of all Russia." I was bapti...

Saint Peter's heroic struggles recall the spiritual labours of Saint Anthony the Great and the monks of the Egyptian desert. This unseen and inner warfare is not confined to monks alone. From the moment of our baptism, all Orthodox Christians are called to fight the varied lusts and passions of the...