Grandpa’s Christmas

The Incredible Holy Supper of Christmas Eve

Authored by Alvin Alexsi Currier

From a small Church in the cornfields of Wisconsin comes this elder’s rambling reminiscence, illustrated by his own sketches, of an imagined traditional Holy Supper and Christmas Eve, in the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe where the founders of this congregation came from. It is based on a factual story of a Christmas Eve visit by a stranger.

Size: 8″ x 10″ | 34 pages

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KARELIA, The Songsingers’ Land
and the Land of Mary’s Song:

An Introduction to, and Meditation on, Karelian Orthodox Culture

Authored by Alvin Alexsi Currier

Barely two hundred years ago when Finland began to emerge as a modern nation state, distinct from Swedish dominance in the West and Russian influence in the East, the roots of the Finnish tribes were found, not in written form, but in epic songs sung by a revered caste of songsingers found primarily in the deep forests of Karelia, or eastern Finland. These pages introduce the story of these songs, their spirituality, and the modern Karelian culture they are giving birth to.

Size: 7.5″ x 9.25″ | 94 pages

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Grandpa’s Icon

Carpatho-Rusyn roots

Authored by Alvin Alexsi Currier

These pages are about the gift of an icon that cast a bridge across time and distance to allow the witness of Saints to enter our lives and to encourage us to cherish the fullness of faith that is ours in Orthodoxy, to discover the rich beauty of the Carpatho-Rusyn heritage, and to encourage us to gather the spiritual fruit of a pilgrimage to the place of our roots.

Size: 8″ x 10″ | 38 pages

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The Miraculous Child

A Christmas folktale from old Russia

Retold by Alvin Alexsi Currier Illustrated by Nadezda Glazunova

Like a sleigh following the clip clop of horses hooves this lyrical Christmas folktale glides out of the mystical forest of old Russian spirituality, following the authors flow of rhymed and lilting prose as it glides over the drifts and layers of this magical feast until it reaches the miracle at the center of it all.

Size: 8.5″ x 8.5″ | 32 pages

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How the Monastery Came to Be on the Top of the Mountain

A Romanian Oral Tradition

Authored and Illustrated by Alvin Alexsi Currier

This story is obviously founded in fact, for it is filled with names and dates, and yet its majesty lies in that it is neither fact nor fiction. Instead it flows, clear and innocent, from the wellspring of faith hidden deep in the heart. It is the flowering of the rich living spirituality of Romania, lovingly tended by the faithful and the more than three hundred monasteries of this Orthodox land. With these pages it is the honor of the author to attempt to share with you some of the radiance of this faith, and the beauty of this land.

Size: 8″ x 10″ | 28 pages

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Old Maria

A Grandfather’s tale of Spiritual Warfare
Once Upon a Time in Old Russia

Told here by Alvin Alexsi Currier.  Illustrated by Nadezda Glazunova

This book was judged too harsh to be published for the Orthodox market, so it was self published and donated to Churches and Monasteries where it was enthusiastically received and profusely praised for it’s simplicity and honesty. It is a treatise on the temptation of wealth and power and the power of simplicity and prayer, but, oh so lovingly offered here in the grace filled words of an old man and the lavishly illustrated spiritual landscape of old Russia.

Size: 8.5″ x 11″ | 28 pages 

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The Blue Lady of Sycamore Hill

The appearance of Mary the Mother of God to the Orthodox Lemko people of Poland

Written and illustrated by Alvin Alexsi Currier

Here is the story of the appearance of Mary, the Mother of God, among the Eastern Orthodox Lemko people in the rugged Carpathian Mountains of southern Poland. Set against the historical background of their pain and suffering, the text recounts the dramatic events on Sycamore hill as it becomes the spiritual heart of this people and their land. Lavishly illustrated by the author, this book is crafted for children of all ages.

Size: 8″x10″ (8×10, 20:32 x 25:40) | 24 pages   

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See review of this publication

The Wonderful Life of Russia’s Saint Sergius of Radonezh 

as told by Alvin Alexsi Currier and illustrated by Nadezdah Glazunova

In the year 2000 when the Russian folk artist, Nadezdah Glazunova asked her spiritual father for a blessing to illustrate a third children’s book with Alvin Alexsi Currier, the priest gently refused her, giving her instead the obedience to illustrate the life of Saint Sergius for the children of the world. This was a daunting challenge for every detail of the Saint’s life was widely known in the Slavic world and every incident was already illustrated by great masters whose paintings had become iconic for the incidents. Nadezda prayed and painted. Alexsi attempted to draft a text worthy of her amazing art. Together we offer here the blessed result.

Size: 8″x10″ (8×10, 20:32 x 25:40) | 36 pages

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Grandma’s Ritual Towel 

written and illustrated by Alvin Alexsi Currier

This book is about Ritual Towels. If you have ever been to Eastern Europe you have seen them, even if you didn’t notice them. From the White Sea in the North to the Black Sea in the South they are everywhere across in Slavic heartland of the Old World. In Finnish they are called Kaespaikka, in Russian and Ukrainian, Rushnyky, and in Romanian, Stergare. Orthodox immigrants to America commonly called them towels, or ritual towels, although calling them ritual cloths may be more appropriate. I was given my first towel nearly forty years ago. To this day it lives with my wife and I as a talisman of the Orthodox faith we came to embrace, a sign of the mystical that Orthodoxy opened for us, and a gateway to the potency of a life entwined with nature that we were blessed to experience in Finland, Russia, Romania, and the Carpathians.

Size: 8″x10″ (8×10, 20:32 x 25:40) | 24 pages

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Alyosha’s Apple – A Tale from Old Russia 

told here by Alvin Alexsi Currier
and illustrated by Nadia Glazunova.

Miracles are never far from the mystical
and sometimes magical spirituality and prayer life
of the rural Russian villages, and from that world
comes this tale of a young orphan, an old monk,
a tame bear, and a miraculous healing.

Size: 8.5” x 8.5” (21.59 x 21.59 cm) | 24 pages full color    

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