A great man is one who collects knowledge the way a bee collects honey and uses it to help people overcome the difficulties they endure - hunger, ignorance and disease!
- Nikola Tesla

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
- Franklin Roosevelt

While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken.
- Woodrow Wilson

Pearl Drops by Željka Cvjetan Gortinski

Željka Cvjetan Gortinski presents her first recording of Serbian Folk Poems, oral poetry that has been handed down by word of mouth for centuries. She began her acting career on stage with the Belgrade Drama Theater. Fortunate to have worked with some of the greatest directors of the former Yugoslavia, she continues a successful career in theater, film, television and radio in Europe and the United States.

All three poems have been soulfully narrated by Željka in both the English and the Serbian languages and fully enhanced by mystical music and sound design. Included is a bonus track performed by Savo Kontić, a much respected gusle player in Serbia.

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“These recordings are unique and extraordinary partly due to Zeljka’s talent and skill as an oral interpreter and partly because of her strong personal connection to the material. As I worked with Zeljka to help create her oral interpretations I was drawn more and more deeply into the rich tradition of maternal wisdom that pervades the pieces and I became profoundly moved by the timeless universality of the stories. If you listen to these exquisite recordings with an open heart, I am sure they will touch you as much as they have touched me. If they do, please Fromshare your appreciation of these precious pearl drops with others.” Rod Menzies, Voice Recording Producer

From Spoken Word Inc.


SA

 

People Directory

Bishop Stefan (Lastavica)

The first Archpastor of the Eastern American and Canadian, come Eastern American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church was Bishop Stefan (Lastavica) (1963–1966). The consecration of the newly elected Bishop Stefan took place on the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles, July 13, 1963, at the hands of Bishops Hrizostom of Branicevo and Visarion of Banat, in the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

Bishop Stefan was born September 14, 1908, in the village of Divos, Srem, into a priest’s family. He graduated from the Seminary in Sremski Karlovci and the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at Belgrade University in 1939. Prior to the election of Bishop, he served in the highest Church hierarchical and legislative institutions. Thus, he gained vast experience in Church legislature and administration.

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Publishing

The Meaning of Reality

Essays on Existence and Communion, Eros and History

by Christos Yannaras

The collection of articles traces the thought of Christos Yanaras through his long journey in discovering the meaning of existence, communion, eros, and history. It is a cause of immense joy that no fewer than twenty articles of passionate significance and substance have at present been gathered together in this volume under the title The Meaning of Reality.

Yannaras is undoubtedly one of the most significant thinkers of our time. Kallistos Ware once described him as "the most creative and prophetic religious thinker at work in Greece today," while Rowan Williams characterizes him as "one of the most significant Christian philosophers in Europe." His very wide and no less deep education helps him to develop an inimitable blend of philosophy, theology, and social criticism, and to speak in an original way about the traditional and contemporary issues of human existence, as well as the latest challenges of modern empirical science and political engagement. A detailed knowledge of the writings of the Holy Fathers has always been his foundation amidst the labyrinth of modern thought - which is inimately bound up with psychoanalysis, environmental issues, human rights, postmodernism, and pluralism , to mention just a few. Insistence on the primacy, uniqueness, and eternal value of human personality prevails in almost all his works and inspires his own vigorous theological and ecumenical engagement, based on the Orthodox eucharistic and ascetic tradition.