Having entered the Christmas season, we ask those who find the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center beneficial to them to help us continue our work with a generous financial gift as you are able. As an incentive, we are offering the following booklet.

In 1909 the German philosopher Arthur Drews wrote a book called "The Myth of Christ", which New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman has called "arguably the most influential mythicist book ever produced," arguing that Jesus Christ never existed and was simply a myth influenced by more ancient myths. The reason this book was so influential was because Vladimir Lenin read it and was convinced that Jesus never existed, thus justifying his actions in promoting atheism and suppressing the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the ideologues of the Third Reich would go on to implement the views of Drews to create a new "Aryan religion," viewing Jesus as an Aryan figure fighting against Jewish materialism. 

Due to the tremendous influence of this book in his time, George Florovsky viewed the arguments presented therein as very weak and easily refutable, which led him to write a refutation of this text which was published in Russian by the YMCA Press in Paris in 1929. This apologetic brochure titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ" was one of the first texts of his published to promote his Neopatristic Synthesis, bringing the patristic heritage to modern historical and cultural conditions. With the revival of these views among some in our time, this text is as relevant today as it was when it was written. 

Never before published in English, it is now available for anyone who donates at least $20 to the Mystagogy Resource Center upon request (please specify in your donation that you want the book). Thank you.



January 17, 2019

Saint Anthony of Krasny Kholm (+ 1481)

St.  Anthony of Krasny Kholm (Feast Day - January 17)

Venerable Anthony of Krasny Kholm (or Krasnokholmsk), after being miraculously healed of a deadly illness, was initially a wilderness-dweller in the vicinity of White Lake. The hieromonk arrived in the region of Tver and settled near “Pretty Hillock” [“Krasny Kholm”], at the bank of the River Mologa, building a chapel and cell there. After the discovery of an icon of Saint Nicholas in a nearby tree where a divine light shined, a stone church was built and a monastery founded in honor of Saint Nicholas, headed by the Saint, who taught the brethren both by word and by example throughout his life. Saint Anthony died in 1481.


Saint Anthony was never officially canonized, but his memory was kept in his monastery. The place of his burial is not precisely known: it is believed that the relics rest underground next to the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas. After the revolution of 1917, the monastery ceased to exist, and the entire architectural complex was destroyed. In 1918, the last superior, Abbot John (Grechnik), was expelled from the monastery to an unknown place. In 1922, a trial was held over the monks remaining at the monastery, during which they were accused of counter-revolutionary activities (their fate is unknown).


The monastery today is in ruins and is known as the Krasnokholmsky Nikolaevsky Saint Anthony Monastery. In 2005, on the territory of the Saint Nicholas Monastery of Saint Anthony, the rector of the Nikolo-Cemetery Church in the city of Red Hill, Father Vasily Simora, installed a cross and renewed the tradition of the procession from the city to the monastery. In 2013, the Krasnokholmsk Saint Nicholas Monastery was established on the territory of the monastery. On the territory of the monastery, divine services are held on holidays, and akathists are read to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and Saint Anthony of Krasnokholmsk.

The monastery in 1883

The monastery today

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