A Resurrection Story for Christmas

Posted on Saturday, December 13, 2025 by Mendicant Monk

Went last night to opening night for New Life Fine Art’s Ebeneezer Scrooge: A Christmas Carol. I wonder if this story has the record on my blog for the most posts, as it never gets old and never ceases to nourish my old and tired soul. This year, two of my middle children are performing in it, and it was such a pleasure to see their noble efforts from the audience. Such a rich contribution to this timeless classic: original music from the director, colorful stage pictures in Victorian London, a live orchestra to accompany the recorded music, and best of all, a powerfully spiritual message of transformation and resurrection in the show’s main character Scrooge.

Continue reading →

The Gospel for All the World

Posted on Friday, March 28, 2025 by Mendicant Monk

Go therefore into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
Matthew 28:16-20

Many people find out that our family is Orthodox Christian. A question that often follows is, “What kind of Orthodox? Are you Greek, Russian?” When we respond that our parish is Bulgarian, meaning we are under the authority of a Bulgarian Bishop, but that most of our people are a mixture of nationalities including Russian, Romanian, Greek and just downright American, the response is usually bewilderment. They are used to Orthodoxy being contained in some kind of ethnic box. “Oh so you are in the Greek Church or the Bulgarian Church.” But the great commission of Our Lord to make disciples of ALL nations disputes this misunderstanding.

Continue reading →

Best of the Best 2024

Posted on Sunday, January 5, 2025 by Mendicant Monk

Drum roll please… The results are in for the 2024: Best of the Best in all the respective media categories. Please see below and also the archives for previous years. Happy viewing and reading everyone, and as always, we would love to know what you think in the comment section below. Separate reviews are linked on the underlined titles. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

An Improbable Christian Candidate for President

Posted on Friday, November 29, 2024 by Mendicant Monk

A timely new movie just came out streaming on Netflix. Shirley tells the story of an African American congresswoman in the 70’s who made a bid for the US Presidency on the Democratic Party ticket. Shirley Chisholm was ultimately unsuccessful at securing her party’s nomination, but the path she took to that failure is truly inspiring. In our own national moment in which this political party has recently lost a presidential election, a story like Chisholm’s can provide hope and healing for the future.

Continue reading →

Offering the Gospel Free of Charge

Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2024 by Mendicant Monk

July 4/17, 2024
Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia: Tsar Nicholas II, Tsaritsa Alexandra, Crown Prince Alexis, and Grand-duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, and those martyred with them

In the swing of summer at present, and I wish to give a shout out to all the fine institutions that make summer worthwhile for our family. This past weekend, I concluded a conference with the newly created New England Consortium of Classical Educators. It involved two glorious days of scholarly conversation around the theme of the knowability of Truth for the low, low price of only $50. Professors, tutors, and mentors from all walks of life took turns grappling with age-old questions and enjoying delicious meals around a common table. Strikes me as what colleges and universities used to be for until we turned them into educational factories for the mere acquisition of specialized skills. In any event, I kept pinching myself that I paid so little for so much.

Continue reading →

An American C.S. Lewis

Posted on Saturday, February 3, 2024 by Mendicant Monk

This memorial is long overdue as we fast approach the 4th year memorial this coming fall of the late Professor Thomas Howard. I recalled him recently as I read an article he wrote about sanctifying your home as a holy place. The article referenced a whole book he wrote on the subject of sanctifying our ordinary and humdrum habitations. As I reveled in his perky writing style, it struck me again how much he reminds me of one of my other great spiritual fathers, C.S. Lewis. Then I remembered how many times in my life I was blessed to enjoy the company of this would be American Oxford Don.

Continue reading →

Best of the Best 2023

Posted on Sunday, January 7, 2024 by Mendicant Monk

Drum roll please… The results are in for the 2023: Best of the Best in all the respective media categories. Please see below and also the archives for previous years. Happy viewing and reading everyone, and as always, we would love to know what you think in the comment section below. Separate reviews are linked on the underlined titles. Enjoy!

Adult Movies/TV

Nefarious (2023)
Sound of Freedom (2023)
Big George Foreman (2023)
Shiny Happy People (2023)
Marshall (2017)
Lupin (2021)
The Burial (2023)

Continue reading →

Rest for the Weary and Heavy Laden

Posted on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 by Mendicant Monk

November 15/28, 2023
Commencement of Advent & the Nativity Fast

Celebrated my birthday this past weekend. The older I get, the more I long for the kind of birthday presents that involve making memories instead of collecting things. Been going a lot lately to free concerts held at nearby Boston colleges and universities. A quick online search came up blank for colleges holding events as campuses are mostly closed for Thanksgiving Day weekend. So I searched next for concerts at the iconic Boston Symphony Orchestra and came upon a great Boston holiday tradition– Handel’s Messiah performed by the Handel and Haydn Society. I usually prefer the standard abridged version of the Messiah performed by amateur choirs in area churches especially as these performances are often sung as part of worship services and invite congregants to sing along during the chorus parts. This time, though, H+H’s unabridged 3.5 hour long professional performance seemed like the perfect way to spend my birthday money. And it was more and not less divine though it was not sung at a church. It carried its usual power to transform hearts and minds towards the Kingdom of Heaven.

Continue reading →

Two Very Current, Riveting Books

Posted on Saturday, November 4, 2023 by Mendicant Monk

With fall and colder, bracing weather upon us, it is a terrific time to curl up next to a warm fire or radiator and soak in a good story. Spiritual memoir has to be my favorite genre, and there are two out this year that are knocking my socks off.

First, North Korea defector Yeonmi Park has returned with a follow up to her first autobiography In Order to Live; she now writes about her more recent struggle in While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector’s Search for Freedom in America. She writes about the cancel culture and critical race theory that threatens our current liberties. As a survivor of the one of the world’s most repressive regimes, her command of the English language and the eloquence with which she advocates for freedom is compelling. What kind of hell on earth she went through to be free makes one cherish what America has given to the world.

Continue reading →

A Show Affirming Faith and Life

Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2023 by Mendicant Monk

Am watching now the newly released twelfth season of BBC’s Call the Midwife streaming on Netflix (and probably other sources, but this is the one I use). What a terrific show! Where else can you see a popularized, but faithful rendition of Christian monasticism alongside life-affirming midwifery care for expectant mothers?

True, the show often pays lip service to the supposed virtue of abortion, but for the most part, it champions the rights and stories of mothers in all walks of life and in all socioeconomic conditions. I really recommend the BBC in general, but this show specifically! Hope you get a chance to at least sample its wonder.