The recent article “St. John’s Orthodox Academy Must Stand For the Sake of Our Children, Our Church, and Our Future” struck a chord far beyond its initial readership. Alumni, parents, and members of the community from across the decades have reached out in a show of overwhelming support, reaffirming the Academy’s vital role in shaping...
The days when thousands of visitors flocked to Sonoma’s coast to witness historical reenactments at Fort Ross State Historic Park are now gone. The traditional Fort Ross Festival—which for decades celebrated the 19th-century Russian-American Company’s presence in California—has been replaced by the so-called Ocean and Art Festival. Gone are the performances by Russian artists, frontier...
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 The possible closure of Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy would mark a profound failure and a lasting shame for the Orthodox community. I can find no rational justification for...
A festive atmosphere permeated the area around the Russian Center in San Francisco on May 2nd and 3rd. From the lit windows, a chorus of music, the buzz of lively conversations, and cheerful, booming toasts of “Hip-hip hooray! Hip-hip hooray!” could be heard. This marked the long-awaited return of the legendary Russian Festival under a...
Radonitsa in the the Russian Orthodox Church is a commemoration of the departed observed on the second Tuesday of Pascha (Easter) or, in some places (in south-west Russia), on the second Monday of Pascha. The Slavs, like many ancient peoples, had a tradition of visiting family members’ graves during the springtime and feasting together with them. After their conversion to Christianity, this...