With joy and gratitude, St. Catherine’s Vision celebrated the release of its latest book, Encountering Women of Faith, Vol. II, on June 17 at a St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary’s summer conference, “Women Disciples of the Lord.”
The new volume follows Encountering Women of Faith Vol. I that has been extremely popular and is going into its third printing.
Encountering Women of Faith, Vol. II, tells the stories of eleven women saints in separate chapters written by ten different women who have graduated from or studied at Orthodox theological schools. Each chapter uses a unique three-part format: a well-researched history of the saint and her service to God and community, a candid consideration by each author on how the saint’s witness touched her own life, and “Reflection and Discussion Questions” suitable for the individual reader and/or group discussion. With this format, we meet real women of the past who are relevant to real women and men of today – all of whom seek ways to live meaningful lives as they grow closer to God in image and love.
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Photo left to right: The Very Rev. John Behr (Dean
of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary),
congratulating Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald,
Valerie Zahirsky, M.Div., and Stefanie Yova Yazge
, M.A., who represented the ten co-authors of
Encountering Women of Faith, Vol. II]
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For example, author Nikki Stournaras writes about St. Anna the Prophetess who waited for eighty-four years fasting and praying in the temple in Jerusalem for the Messiah. Her patience was rewarded when she was blessed with being present at the Presentation of our Lord when the Theotokos and St. Joseph brought him to the temple forty days after his birth. While we might consider St. Anna’s life extreme, Ms. Stournaras explains that the example of piety and silence may be helpful for us today. She writes: “My mind is filled with noise pollution. I jump to conclusions. I rush. . . .St. Anna was a woman who knew how to wait for God through silence. . . .she directs me to remain vigilant and aware that Christ is in our midst.”
This book connects the reader with many more such examples relating to the lives of ten saints (Christina of Tyre, Thekla, Juliana, Perpetua, Felicitas, Anna, Paula, Poplia, Mother Maria Skobtsova, and Mary of Egypt and others) and the ten contemporary women authors, all of whom worked collaboratively on the book through a series of retreats and emails: Susan Arida, Hilary Chala, Julia C. Curtright, Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald (editor), Barbara K. Harris, Valerie Karras, Eleni Simmons, Nikki Stournaras, Stefanie Yova Yazge, and Valerie Zahirsky.
The authors are members of St. Catherine’s Vision, a group founded by women graduates of Orthodox theological schools who “seek to study and support the many ways in which the people of God are called to contribute toward the building up of the body of Christ through education, spiritual renewal and Orthodox unity.” http://www.orthodoxwomen.org
In the spirit of Christian outreach and Orthodox unity, the “birthday party” for the book was appropriately celebrated at St. Vladimir’s Seminary Summer Conference, “Women Disciples of the Lord” http://www.svots.edu, at which women serving the Lord in areas such as theological studies, education, chaplaincy, prison ministry, hospice, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, philanthropy, publications and missions made presentations and networked, thus providing a contemporary encounter among Orthodox women of faith.
Encountering Orthodox Women of Faith, The St. Catherine’s Vision Collection, Volume II, edited by Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2011. http://www.holycrossbookstore.com
Marilyn Rouvelas is the author of A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America and a consultant to St. Catherine’s Vision.
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