Holy Trinity Publications announces new collection of Western European saints’ lives.
True to the heritage of Orthodox Russia in reviving the veneration of ancient, pre-schism Orthodox saints in Western Europe, Holy Trinity Publications is pleased to announce the release of Saints of Switzerland, an extensive compilation of the lives of saints of ancient Helvetia, modern-day Switzerland.This publication continues in the footsteps of St John (Maximovitch), Bishop Ambrose (Cantacuzène) (+2009), and many others within ROCOR who strove for the revival of Orthodox veneration for ancient Western saints. Specifically, it represents the culmination of the project begun by Bishop Ambrose to compile the lives of and compose hymnography to the ancient saints of his homeland. By the efforts of Subdeacon Claude Lopez-Ginisty of St Barbara Church in Vevey, Switzerland, Saints of Switzerland is now available to all readers.
The book is organized as a Synaxarion, or annual calendar of Swiss saints, beginning with the Church New Year. In addition to these lives, troparia are provided at the end of each entry, providing the reader hymns to sing in honor of each saint. Thus, Saints of Switzerland can be used as an aid in daily devotion. A liturgical service and akathist to the Saints of Switzerland, both composed by Bishop Ambrose, are also included. In Switzerland, as established by Archbishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe, this liturgical commemoration is served on the third Sunday of September (according to the civil calendar), coinciding with the Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance, and Prayer.
We pray that Saints of Switzerland will become an integral part of the growing collection of works dedicated to the saints of the ancient Christian West, reviving their memory and veneration among Orthodox Christians today.
