Archimandrite Damascene (Orlovsky) Has Published a New Book: ‘Through Suffering to Communion: New Martyrs of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus’

The reviewed book of Archimandrite Damascene (Orlovsky) ‘Through Suffering to Communion: New Martyrs of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus’ describes 24 life paths of hierarchs and clergymen canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church and their spiritual endeavors amid anti-religious persecution of the 20th century. The book opens a door into the world of the heroes of spirit, who recreated reality in the most stifling time of mass anti-religious repression on the territory of the former Russian Empire. New martyrs come to life in the book to show an example of living Christian ideal (as imagined in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) within this world. The group portrait of new martyrs shows features of national elite. Their spiritual endeavor, concludes the author's, is a phenomenon in the history of our currently divided people, which gives hope for creating a new unity through suffering. The source base that has provided biographical and hagiographic material for the book conclusively represents the realities of period in its macro and micro aspects. It consists of archival documents and oral history sources, most of which are being introduced into scientific use by the author. The review recognizes high scientific and archaeographic level of the book, as well as its informative value. The text includes 500 citations from archival documents and scholarship, as well as some documents, rare photographs, and scholarly commentary. It is of value for scientists who study the history of the Church and explore the role of individual and religious consciousness in the historical process.