It's beautiful but very small for an adult wrist. I cannot comfortably wear it.

Very nice.

Love this little book and have given it to all the young people in our Church. Very informative and good sense answers to common questions that teens have.

The bracelet is too heavy and very uncomfortable to wear.

Great product, with a beautiful design and a perfect size for a home icon corner. The only problem is that you must put this on a hot pad so that it doesn’t burn through anything or scorch wood. I’m not sure exactly how hot it gets. However, I burn half a coal at a time, and it doesn’t take long for not only the thin handle, but the entire base to be impossibly hot to touch. If you have little ones be very careful when you are praying with them and using this that they do not touch the censer and inadvertently burn themselves. Otherwise, it’s a good product and high quality while also being quite affordable.

I very much like this Icon. Why? It reminds me of those evil clergy found in all Christian denominations who can not fool God while they fleece the sheep and corrupt themselves and others. While it also reminds me of the few who who enter the narrow gate who will enter the eternity of God's Glory. It also compels me and gives me a big reminder for the battle I must win to love God with all my heart walking in that narrow gate divesting my self from all things preventing me from making it through this narrow loving passage. Therefore, I ask all who read this to pray for me that with God's mighty loving power and grace I will be able to do so even if I get a little or a lot bruised. Remember we are up against spiritual evil powerful creatures that have been around a long time with vast experience that can fool and entangle us too.

A beautiful story! ❤️

A wonderful book

Very helpful.

Beautiful and Christ-centered cards

As a father of seven-year-old twins, I’m always looking for things to read with the kids that will challenge them a little but still keep their interest. Painting Angels fit that bill.

The story is about a girl, named Macrina, a boy, named Sam, and their summer days spent helping the nuns at the local monastery where their families attend church. Macrina is a rule-follower. Everything needs to be her way, and her way is the right way. Sam is awkward and stubborn. He’s truthful to a fault, to the perpetual annoyance of Macrina. Though it’s not stated, it’s implied that Sam is autistic. Sam and Macrina do not like each other, and are not pleased at the prospect of spending the whole summer together. Throughout the story, just as it seems they’re figuring out how to work together, one of them does something to annoy the other, and they’re back to square one.

At the dramatic climax, Painting Angels presents as clear an exposition as I’ve ever read of one of the key aspects of Orthodox Christian thought. (You’ll have to read it to find out what that is, though. I don’t want to spoil it.)

Read my full review at https://dadsoforthodoxy.com/painting-angels-a-dads-review/

I’m going to read it again. And for someone like me, who loves to accomplish tasks and check off items on a to-do list, it’s high praise to label a task or book one that I’d want to start over & do again.

The stories in this book were not what I expected. They are raw, poetic, terse. And I cried more than I’d like to admit. Each story left me wanting to be better, wishing to pay attention, to slow down.

Every Orthodox person will be able to relate to a story in this collection - the book itself being a kind of microcosm of every Orthodox faith community. The portraits of the ancient immigrant mothers & fathers; the young, optimistic converts; the broken, caring priest who always says the hard things; all a part of a unique but typical Orthodox church where faith is paper-thin but strong as steel.

High quality and I love the study guides and notes, I’ll be replacing all the evangelical Study Bibles in the house with these.

I had quite the journey with this book. It is evident throughout that the author has a great love for Princess Ileana who became Mother Alexandra, and has clearly gone through innumerable research sources of interviews, letters, and autobiography. The narrator, too, had clearly put much thought into her performance, using Eastern European pronunciation of names and places. This was greatly appreciated by me, as I likely would have otherwise butchered many beautiful names otherwise! The narrator is also incredibly engaging, and even the parts of the book I struggled with, she had a way of drawing me forward.

I will admit there were some difficult moments for me. Perhaps it is because I am a mother, but the way Princess Ileana is described as a child is, well, hard to believe as real. Even the best, sweetest, most generous children will have times of being tired, cranky, mischievous, and downright disobedient. The idea that Princess Ileana was ALWAYS good, selfless, polite, etc just felt like a work of fiction. The other part I struggled with was the way it appeared she was praised for suppressing her own grief or struggle as she "did her duty" as a princess. As someone who has spent many years in therapy this set off many alarm bells, I don't believe the degree to which Princess Ileana had to bottle herself up and compartmentalize at such a young age is healthy. HOWEVER, once I got beyond those parts I was fascinated by what she experienced, and endured, as she survived World War I, World War II, and the Soviet invasion. For better or worse, the training she had as a child to hide her feelings allowed her to feign compliance with political tyrants so that she could protect her people as best she could. There is no doubt that reading the conditions of those times; food shortages, medical shortages, heating shortages so that they consumed rotten food, had 3 men to a hospital bed, and other horrors put the pains of our current pandemic into a different light. It does not seem quite so hard to stay home, eat boring food, or wear a mask compared to all that!

Most of all though, I had this incredible realization of how close history can seem. When it begins at her birth in 1909 that feels impossibly long ago. The world described feels so foreign it may as well be 1509 or set in a fantasy novel in another realm. And yet, as the dates continued along I realized she was actually alive at the same time as myself, as I was born in 1985 and she reposed in 1991! To think of all the inventions and change she saw, and then for her to bring Orthodox faith with her into America, through all she had seen and been through. To build the first Orthodox women's monastery, and what an immeasurable impact that has had! I finished the book with such a sense of awe and gratitude for Mother Alexandra, which I think is truly the best way to end.

I was supplied a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful, especially helpful in times such as these!

I love this canon to Matuska Olga Michael. It is simply and beautifully written.

This book is filled with divine wisdom. Every page provides a new insight into our practical living of the faith. This is a must for every Orthodox library.

As a retired librarian, I was deeply disappointed in this book, and lost respect in you that you would sell such a deception. It is the author's imagining of what the saint thought, said and did, and offense against the saint's memory. How can one respect those sell such a book of fiction claiming that it is a biography. ~ Noel Anderson

A very well thought out and expressed book on the fundamentals of Orthodox Christian beliefs. This is a slow and thoughtful read (for this ex-Protestant) which will give you answers to any questions your friends have about your Orthodox faith. The author does an excellent job of using rational thinking to get to faith based conclusions. A definite keeper on our bookshelf!

Very stylish. Wonderful prayers. I use it for my daily prayer rule.