A groundbreaking study of the origins of the Church's ministry, focusing on the significance and role of "elders" in the social world of the New Testament.

    It is providential, then, that the SERBIAN PATERICON is now appearing in English for the first time: a compilation of the lives of martyrs, confessors, monks and holy leaders who have adorned Serbian history since the dawn of the Christian era. Today, when universal Christianity is losing nobility of spirit through apostasy, the young generation is becoming spiritually impoverished. Yet Christians have to go on through the darkness. People have to draw strength from their heavenly predecessors as a supply of new energy from above. The purpose of this Patericon is to provide a link from the traditional, ancient Orthodox experience to the young generation in America, before it is too late. In the words of Fr. Seraphim Rose: "It is later than you think. Let us hasten therefore to do the work of God." The depth of Serbia's spirituality, visible in the otherworldly transcendence emanating from her iconographic tradition, influenced the people of other lands, especially Russia. The present volume on the Saints of Serbia can now serve as a transforming influence on Christians of all nationalities and as a source of healing for Serbia herself.