At the Ringing of the Bells - The Paschal Martyrs of Optina service_Moleben/Paraklesis and localism

and localism

by Hieromonk Damascene

and He is pleased that you long for His peace

but you will go over into a different world

At the Ringing of the Bells - The Paschal Martyrs of Optina service_Moleben/Paraklesis and localismOn Pascha of 1993, three young monks of the famous Optina Hermitage Hieromonk Vasily, Monk Therapont, and Monk Trophim were brutally murdered by a satanist. These men lived in our world. They went to public schools and universities. They faced the same kinds of temptations and struggles that modern people face. Yet, their saintly lives show that their martyric death was a special gift to them from the Lord, and that it is possible to dedicate one's