Holy Trinity Publications, out of Jordanville, NY, has just published a book that will surely be of interest to many readers of this website: Glorified in America: Laborers in the New World from Saint Alexis to Elder Ephraim. Originally published in Greek, the book was written by the monks of the Monastery of St John the Forerunner in Mesa Potamos, Cyprus — the same monastery that brought us The Romanov Royal Martyrs: What Silence Could Not Conceal. It was translated by Katherine Psaropoulou-Brits, one of the premier Orthodox translators from Greek.
If you’re familiar with the Romanov book, this one will look familiar: both books are blends of hagiography and scholarship, with edifying portraits of the saints supplemented by well-sourced endnotes. Both books also have loads of colorized photos of the saints. But I must confess my bias: I am friends with the monastery, and for Glorified in America, I provided the introductory chapter and shared a lot of source material with the monastery to help them in the preparation of this book.
After that, there are chapters on the following men:
- Saint Alexis of Wilkes-Barre
- Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow
- Saint John of Chicago
- Saint Alexander of New York
- Saint Raphael of Brooklyn
- Saint Sebastian of Jackson
- Saint Mardarije of Libertyville
- Saint John Maximovich
- Father Theoklitos of Galveston
- Elder Ephraim of Arizona
This is far from an exhaustive list of Orthodox saints who lived in America; in place of that sort of breadth, the book takes deeper dives into each saint’s story.
If you have any interest in American Orthodox history or the lives of the saints, this is a book you’ll want to own. Retail price is $39.99, but the Holy Trinity Publications website says that if you order before September 19, 2023, you’ll get a 15% discount (so, $5.99 off the cover price). I have a physical copy myself, and it’s a beautiful book that seems like a bargain at $40. (To be clear, regarding that discount: the book was supposed to be available for shipping on Sept. 19, but the printer actually delivered the physical copies ahead of schedule, so if you order now, they’ll ship it to you immediately. But they’ll still give you the 15% preorder discount.)
You can order the book on Holy Trinity’s website and get 15% off by Sept. 19. It’s also available via Amazon, or (if you’re in the UK or Europe), via Oxbow (although those websites don’t offer the discount).
(I should add: I can’t actually write a review of the book due to my own connection with it, but I have not and will not be paid anything for my involvement.)
We received this a couple days ago. It’s a gorgeous book and contains many wonderful photos I’ve never seen. I already read your first chapter and the chapter on St. John of Chicago, who is quite dear to me. Looking forward to reading the rest. I highly recommend this volume.
Dear father, We would be most grateful if you could re-post this gracious review on the Amazon listing to help us spread the word about this book.
This look excellent! Not sure if this is the proper place to ask, but was there a specific reason Fr. Seraphim Rose wasn’t included?
As I recall, initially, the list only included those saints who have been formally canonized. The original book was published in Greek, and as there are no canonized Greek saints from America, the Monastery decided to add chapters on Elder Ephraim and Fr Theoklitos to the book, so that its Greek audience would be able to see that there were saintly men from their own ethnic group who labored in America. The Monastery then worked with Holy Trinity Publications to have the book published in English.
The Monastery never intended to write a comprehensive synaxarion of all canonized and not-yet-canonized saints who lived in America, but rather a collection of selected lives. (A truly comprehensive book would run a thousand pages long, at least.)
The book also does not include, among many others, St Vasily Martysz, St Varnava Nastic (born in Indiana), St Nicholai Velimirovic (one of the greatest Serbian saints of the 20th century, who died in Pennsylvania)… the list goes on.
We were recently gifted an “Icon” of Elder Ephraim of Arizona. It’s wonderful and it will hold a place of honor in our home because it is clear he was a saintly man. I was wondering if there are any differences in how we should venerate Elder Ephraim’s Icon as a not-yet-canonized Saint as we would other Icons of Saints?