Translations

COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, VOLUME 1: THE FOUR GOSPELS

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2015

Writing in the tradition of biblical exegetes such as St John Chrysostom and Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, the work of Archbishop Averky (Taushev) provides a commentary that is firmly grounded in the teaching of the Church, manifested in its liturgical hymnography and the works of the Holy Fathers.

Analyzing all four Gospels chronologically and simultaneously, he allows readers to see the life of Christ as an unfolding narrative in accessible, direct language. Using the best of prerevolutionary Russian sources, these writings also remained abreast of developments in Western biblical scholarship, engaging with it directly and honestly. He approaches the Gospels first and foremost not as a literary work of antiquity, but as the revelation of Jesus Christ as God in the flesh.

Archbishop Averky’s commentaries on the New Testament have become standard textbooks in Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and have been published in Russia to widespread acclaim. This present volume is the first translation of these texts into English and it is an indispensable addition to the library of every student of the Gospels.

THE FIELD: VOLUME 1 OF THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ST. IGNATIUS BRIANCHANINOV 

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2016

The spiritual harvest requires a heart that is harrowed by repentance, softened by compunction, and irrigated by tears.

The field is a place of cultivation and of battle. In this volume the nineteenth century Christian saint and teacher Ignatius (Brianchaninov) instructs his reader in the cultivation of the field of their hearts, with the aim of producing a harvest of virtues both pleasing to God and of benefit to all humankind. Drawing on his own military background St Ignatius recognizes that this cultivation requires discipline and awareness of the enemies that thwart our efforts to live a holy life. His words combine spiritual wisdom with reflections on nature that hint at the joy awaiting those who embrace the saint’s call.

The Field draws deeply on the teachings of the ascetic fathers of the Church, from the desert dwellers of Scetis in Egypt to his Russian contemporaries the Optina Elders. He demonstrates how their voice is one in guiding us on the Christian path. It will be impossible for either lay people or monastics to read these words without being challenged and inspired to follow Christ more fully in cultivating the field of their own life.

MY LIFE IN CHRIST

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2015

This definitive spiritual classic by St. John of Kronstadt was in need of serious revision. Using both the Goulaeff translation and the original Russian edition, I revised the translation extensively. Although this edition was not branded as a re-translation, the amount of changes that were introduced in the new text make it very nearly a new translation.

COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, VOLUME 2: THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2017

Archbishop Averky’s commentaries on the New Testament have become standard textbooks in Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and have been published in Russia to widespread acclaim. This present volume is the first translation of these texts into English. it is an indispensable addition to the library of every student of the New Testament.

THE SUNFLOWER: CONFORMING THE WILL OF MAN TO THE WILL OF GOD • ST JOHN (MAXIMOVICH)

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2018

“May our love for the Sun, the will of God, be as strong as the sunflower’s, so that even in days of hardship and sorrow we will continue to sail unerringly along the sea of life, following the directions of the barometer and compass of God’s will that leads us to the safe haven of eternity.”

This is a thoroughly practical manual of the spiritual life focusing on the central goal of every Christian: learning the will of God and struggling to mold our life to it, just as Christ “humbled Himself and became obedient.” (Phil. 2:8) Even more fundamentally, St John addresses the question of why we should care about God’s will. Finally, the reader will find eternal wisdom running through these writings on questions of theodicy, free will, and Divine Providence. 

This work is reminiscent of the classic text Unseen Warfare in its historical genesis as an Orthodox redaction of an originally Roman Catholic text. First published in 1627 as The Heliotropiumit was the work of a German Jesuit writer Jeremias Drexelius. The future St John adapted this text for an Orthodox audience as a student and then teacher at the Kiev Academy in the 1670’s but it was not published until 1714, just a year before the author’s death. This is the first English edition of St John’s text, further edited and abbreviated for the contemporary reader.

COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, VOLUME 3: THE EPISTLES AND THE APOCALYPSE

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2018

This third and final volume of Archbishop Averky’s New Testament commentary elucidates the moral and pastoral aspects of the Pauline and Universal Epistles and the Book of Revelation. Discussion of each New Testament book is preceded by an analysis of the authorship, time and place of composition, and major themes within.

The final commentary on the Apocalypse, in which Archbishop Averky relies heavily on the ancient commentary of St Andrew of Ceasaria, is provided in the popular translation by Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose), together with the Scriptural text itself. The author’s approach is thoroughly patristic, constantly turning to the Church Fathers for the elucidation of one or another particular verse, especially to the commentaries and expositions of St John Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid, Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus, and most particularly to the voluminous Scriptural commentaries of St Theophan the Recluse.

THE REFUGE: VOLUME 2 OF THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ST. IGNATIUS BRIANCHANINOV

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2019

“Prayer is a refuge of God’s great mercy to the human race.” The refuge is a place of inner stillness and peace where the heart is fully opened to the embrace of God’s love. It is a return to the ancient paradise from which the human race, in Adam, had to depart because of disobedience to the command of God. 

The Refuge is an exposition of the concrete actions we should take if we truly desire to live with and in God. It weaves together meditations on scripture (from the Psalms in particular) and amplifies these with the wisdom of early Christian saints, in particular the ascetical writings of St. John of the Ladder, St. Macarius the Great, and St. Isaac the Syrian. It is an active exhortation for us to reacquire the original nobility with which God fashioned us in the beginning.

CONVERSATIONS WITH MY HEART: CONTEMPLATIONS ON GOD AND THE WORLD BY METROPOLITAN ANASTASSY (GRIBANOVSKY)

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2019

Metropolitan Anastasy was a leading figure of the Russian emigration following the Communist takeover of his country. He formed a bridge between two worlds—the Imperial Court of the last Tzar and the transient 20th century Russian diaspora. These reflections are from his diary during the calamitous post-revolutionary period. They draw upon wisdom from sources as diverse as writers of classical antiquity, authors, composers, and inventors of the age of enlightenment, offering unique perspectives.

SERMONS ON THE SPIRITUAL LIFE BY ST. PHILARET OF MOSCOW

Published by Holy Trinity Publications • 2020

St. Philaret of Moscow is the Russian Chrysostom. His mouth overflowed from a heart enlarged and illumined by the Holy Spirit, and his teaching has been a fountain of life to the Christian generations that have succeeded the great bishop. Here, for the first time in an English-language translation, we have a thematic collection of his sermons dedicated to living the Christian life. The Master Pedagogue covers numerous foundational spiritual realities including being born again, building a life upon the foundation of the fear of God, the centrality of gratitude, the cultivation of zeal, the purification of the heart, the nourishing of poverty of spirit, as well as more targeted subjects such as childbearing, work, preparations for prayer, and how to consecrate Sunday to God. These pages contain a feast of faith and soul guidance that, if followed, will bring forth abundant spiritual treasure.

JESUS CHRIST: HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS, VOLUME 3 • METROPOLITAN HILARION ALFEEV

Published by SVS Press • 2020

This is the third volume of the six-volume series Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching. It focuses entirely on the Christ’s miracles, examining the Gospel accounts of the miracles of the Lord in light of both current scholarship and the Church’s perennial tradition.

THE MONASTERY • ZAHAR PRILEPIN

Glagoslav Publications Ltd. • 2020

The late 1920s… Convicted of murdering his father, Artiom Goriainov is serving a sentence of several years on the Solovki Archipelago. Artiom is a strong young man who survives all facets of the hell that is the Soviet camps: hunger, cold, betrayal, the death of friends, a failed escape attempt and a love affair. Unlike the many political prisoners at Solovki, he has no strong convictions. He is an everyman who, like the Virgil of Solovki, simply narrates what is happening in front of his eyes. His only motivation is to survive.