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Big in Heaven: A Collection of Stories about Life in an American Orthodox Parish
These stories begin to paint a new kind of Icon, that of a truly American Orthodox Christian, of regular people simply trying to be or tragically rejecting being regular human beings, the kind of people perhaps never even imagined by most American readers. . . . The stories break the mold of what a religious or non-religious story ought to be. They are not moralistic, nor are they irreverent in their honest portrayal of the realities of life in the Church. Rather they are just good, honest stories, and in being this they are sacramental, conveying and holding together elements of life that are seemingly disparate. (from the Foreword) Sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes convicting, these stories of life in an inner-city immigrant Orthodox parish are guaranteed to shake your assumptions and make you see your life and faith in a new way. They are not for the faint of heart but they are very much for all who want to embrace the truth more fully.
- GenresShort StoriesChristian
256 pages, Paperback
Published July 23, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 5, 2022
It's just so heartwarming to read about a community of people living thousands of miles away from me, from different ethnicities and still feel a connection and be able to relate, they have similar problems, customs and ways of going through life to me because we're all orthodox and even though there were parts that I didn't fully understand cuz they were related directly to their cultures of origin, I still enjoyed most of these stories and felt deeply for the parish of St Alexander the Whirling Dervish and I envy them their father Naum with all his love. I also loved the authenticity in all these stories and how it just presents life for the orthodox in the US as it is without embellishment or presenting an overly perfectionist picture, on the contrary it didn't shy away from all the nasty stuff. This is not propaganda this is a biography of those people.
December 28, 2025
Big in Heaven: A Collection of Short Stories about Life in an American Orthodox Parish
By Stephen Siniari
When’s the last time you picked up a book of Orthodox short stories? American, literary short stories? Fr. Stephen N. Siniari has done something miraculous, writing just such a book and (thank you, Ancient Faith Publishing!) making it available to readers who long to read stories set within an Orthodox framework. In Big in Heaven: A Collection of Short Stories about Life in an American Orthodox Parish, Fr. Stephen writes about Orthodoxy as it is lived out in a parish which, however fictional, is so realistically evoked in its grit and beauty that it may look surprisingly like your own.
The parish at the center of these stories is that of St. Alexander the Whirling Dervish Orthodox Church, set in the midst of a Philadelphia Fishtown neighborhood. To help you get your bearings, and indicating the importance of place of these stories, the “endpapers” of the book feature a hand-drawn map of the neighborhood that shows the locations of local landmarks like the putty factory, Shooky’s Taproom, and Donahue’s Funeral Home.
Father Naum is the common thread in all 24 stories, a son of the neighborhood who grew up to be the priest of St. Alexander’s. While he figures prominently, the book isn’t really about him. It’s about the community he serves, the inhabitants of a Philadelphia Fishtown neighborhood, ethnic and working class. People here have names like Two-Beer Eddie, Teddy the Horse, Nicky Zeo, and Little Harry, and the community is tight-knit, so “there’s just no hiding anything in the neighborhood” (19). In other words, it’s a neighborhood ripe for story-telling, and the stories we get are told by the community, which has a long memory and holds nothing back. Often the narrator of the story is the collective “we,” as the community relates the lives and struggles of its members, including Father Naum (who they just call Naum). The community often gets in the last word too, bringing a story to a close with lines like “We never saw him again,” or “’Proximity shows up pretenders.’ Always said it, old Naum, now didn’t he?” This collective voice and strong evocation of community might bring to mind Garrison Keillor’s tales of Lake Wobegon or, more darkly, William Faulkner’s small Southern town and its secrets in “A Rose for Emily.”
The stories of Big in Heaven are undergirded by the Church, and the lives of the characters are seen through their relation to the faith. The neighborhood sees people grow up and grow older, facing unexpected challenges and tragedies. Sometimes, these people are pulled back to the Church, or the Church reaches out to them, meeting them where they are. These people experience heartbreak; as Naum muses, “From the time of our expulsion from the paradise of bliss, there was no life without suffering” (123). The people persevere through the deaths of children, unhappy marriages, molestation, and alienation from family and friends. Their stories don’t promise happy endings, but they do show characters asking hard questions about God and faith. Throughout, there is the Church and its sacraments, the holy life played out through its flawed, even abrasive parishioners and their flawed priest.
Such an evocative portrayal of a community may make the reader wish to know more of Fr. Naum’s story, such as his relationships with his wife and son. A reader may also long for more repeat appearances by characters, rather than having an interesting character relegated to a single story. I hope that Fr. Stephen continues to write about this neighborhood, and that Ancient Faith continues to nourish Orthodox literary talent.
By Stephen Siniari
When’s the last time you picked up a book of Orthodox short stories? American, literary short stories? Fr. Stephen N. Siniari has done something miraculous, writing just such a book and (thank you, Ancient Faith Publishing!) making it available to readers who long to read stories set within an Orthodox framework. In Big in Heaven: A Collection of Short Stories about Life in an American Orthodox Parish, Fr. Stephen writes about Orthodoxy as it is lived out in a parish which, however fictional, is so realistically evoked in its grit and beauty that it may look surprisingly like your own.
The parish at the center of these stories is that of St. Alexander the Whirling Dervish Orthodox Church, set in the midst of a Philadelphia Fishtown neighborhood. To help you get your bearings, and indicating the importance of place of these stories, the “endpapers” of the book feature a hand-drawn map of the neighborhood that shows the locations of local landmarks like the putty factory, Shooky’s Taproom, and Donahue’s Funeral Home.
Father Naum is the common thread in all 24 stories, a son of the neighborhood who grew up to be the priest of St. Alexander’s. While he figures prominently, the book isn’t really about him. It’s about the community he serves, the inhabitants of a Philadelphia Fishtown neighborhood, ethnic and working class. People here have names like Two-Beer Eddie, Teddy the Horse, Nicky Zeo, and Little Harry, and the community is tight-knit, so “there’s just no hiding anything in the neighborhood” (19). In other words, it’s a neighborhood ripe for story-telling, and the stories we get are told by the community, which has a long memory and holds nothing back. Often the narrator of the story is the collective “we,” as the community relates the lives and struggles of its members, including Father Naum (who they just call Naum). The community often gets in the last word too, bringing a story to a close with lines like “We never saw him again,” or “’Proximity shows up pretenders.’ Always said it, old Naum, now didn’t he?” This collective voice and strong evocation of community might bring to mind Garrison Keillor’s tales of Lake Wobegon or, more darkly, William Faulkner’s small Southern town and its secrets in “A Rose for Emily.”
The stories of Big in Heaven are undergirded by the Church, and the lives of the characters are seen through their relation to the faith. The neighborhood sees people grow up and grow older, facing unexpected challenges and tragedies. Sometimes, these people are pulled back to the Church, or the Church reaches out to them, meeting them where they are. These people experience heartbreak; as Naum muses, “From the time of our expulsion from the paradise of bliss, there was no life without suffering” (123). The people persevere through the deaths of children, unhappy marriages, molestation, and alienation from family and friends. Their stories don’t promise happy endings, but they do show characters asking hard questions about God and faith. Throughout, there is the Church and its sacraments, the holy life played out through its flawed, even abrasive parishioners and their flawed priest.
Such an evocative portrayal of a community may make the reader wish to know more of Fr. Naum’s story, such as his relationships with his wife and son. A reader may also long for more repeat appearances by characters, rather than having an interesting character relegated to a single story. I hope that Fr. Stephen continues to write about this neighborhood, and that Ancient Faith continues to nourish Orthodox literary talent.
September 13, 2020
As far as I am aware, Big in Heaven is the first collection of short stories written by and for an American Orthodox audience. And what a fantastic collection of short stories it is.
This is realistic Christian fiction at its best. It is about people that are down in the muck and dirt of life, with all the tragedy, hypocrisy, and small cruelties that abound in the day to day. But it is shot through with grace, real grace. Nothing here feels cheap or shoehorned, or overly convenient or tied up with a ribbon. Its a book written by a religious man that I would recommend to an atheist in a heartbeat. It is a book that tells the truth, showing the darkness and simply allowing the light to illuminate it.
It is heartbreaking, convicting, and inspiring. Beyond all that it is a book I hope is read for the sheer quality of the writing. Its characters are vibrant and memorable, and frequently feel like they are people you have met before. The structure of the stories slowly builds a cohesive sense of place and theme, all while remaining distinctly short stories.
I hope this book is a bright start to a long tradition of American Orthodox fiction, and that Steven Siniari will be widely read for a long time to come.
This is realistic Christian fiction at its best. It is about people that are down in the muck and dirt of life, with all the tragedy, hypocrisy, and small cruelties that abound in the day to day. But it is shot through with grace, real grace. Nothing here feels cheap or shoehorned, or overly convenient or tied up with a ribbon. Its a book written by a religious man that I would recommend to an atheist in a heartbeat. It is a book that tells the truth, showing the darkness and simply allowing the light to illuminate it.
It is heartbreaking, convicting, and inspiring. Beyond all that it is a book I hope is read for the sheer quality of the writing. Its characters are vibrant and memorable, and frequently feel like they are people you have met before. The structure of the stories slowly builds a cohesive sense of place and theme, all while remaining distinctly short stories.
I hope this book is a bright start to a long tradition of American Orthodox fiction, and that Steven Siniari will be widely read for a long time to come.
September 22, 2022
I cried several times with this book. Every time I cried I was in public transportation. Worth the awkwardness.
This book is so beautifully written, like I've never read super ordinary stories written in such a poetic manner. The style, the anecdotes, interrupting conversation with flashbacks or pieces of liturgy; it was exquisitely crafted.
The stories show how faith is interwoven in everyday life, how His Mercy meets us where we are, quite literally, on the street with drug addicts & adulterers and also in churches with modern-day Pharisees.
Through stories, this book sheds light on brokenness, shame, sin, humility, forgiveness, love, salvation and sowing seeds of faith in faith in unlikely places.
Maybe I can't quite pinpoint the fingerprint this book left on my heart but it sure did something so subtle in the way I see Christian life, ordinary situations and God's hands.
So grateful for this book.
This book is so beautifully written, like I've never read super ordinary stories written in such a poetic manner. The style, the anecdotes, interrupting conversation with flashbacks or pieces of liturgy; it was exquisitely crafted.
The stories show how faith is interwoven in everyday life, how His Mercy meets us where we are, quite literally, on the street with drug addicts & adulterers and also in churches with modern-day Pharisees.
Through stories, this book sheds light on brokenness, shame, sin, humility, forgiveness, love, salvation and sowing seeds of faith in faith in unlikely places.
Maybe I can't quite pinpoint the fingerprint this book left on my heart but it sure did something so subtle in the way I see Christian life, ordinary situations and God's hands.
So grateful for this book.
September 1, 2020
Big in heaven is a universe unto itself; following in the tradition of Bocaccio and Chaucer, Fr Stephen stitches together a world of suspended belief that is both entirely American and entirely Orthodox. Each character has some lesson to teach or some wisdom to impart. This is a wonderful example of the personal paths we take to salvation as individuals in part of a collective. Highly recommended for anyone that is curious about the soul of lived Orthodox faith, rather than conceptual theology.
June 10, 2021
Such an honest, thought provoking look at life through the eyes of an Orthodox priest an his parishioners (albeit fictional characters that I imagine have some basis in reality). This book can be hard to read sometimes because it reflects an image of broken, imperfect Christians striving and struggling on the journey to salvation. The angst of Fr. Naum as he cares for his flock and struggles with his own family and Orthodox Christian walk is raw but beautiful ...shining a light on the beauty of Faith and the Grace of God. The characters of this book are memorable and you want to spend time with them. I giggled, I was shocked, and I downright ugly cried many times throughout the book.
I listened to the Audible version, narrated by the author who is a retired Orthodox priest. His voice brought the stories to life.
I listened to the Audible version, narrated by the author who is a retired Orthodox priest. His voice brought the stories to life.
November 11, 2022
It's rare that I read a book and come away without any negative reflections. This is a rare book, though. It is a collection of stories about an inner city Philadelphia Orthodox church, the neighborhoods, the priest, and the flock of souls who struggle with the vicissitudes of life and a living faith that transcends those ever present challenges. It is heartbreaking and tender, brutal and comic. It is a few nights well spent before bed, reading tales that will touch your heart and stimulate your brain. Good fiction.
December 23, 2022
5*****Stars
This is a beautiful book about the grace of God in our everyday lives and the grace we extend to each other in our brokenness when we live in community with our Orthodox brothers and sisters.
Father Siniari gives us a collection of short stories that help us navigate the pain of this world as we seek God in our lives. He does not shy away from the ugliness, the hurt, the evil we wrestle with and with each story he gives us a thread of beauty, sometimes slender, sometimes glowing with the glory of God, but always present.
I particularly liked the advice of Matushka Colleen in “Three-Stitch Prayer,” to “Pray for prayer. Pray to be real. Pray for stillness so you can hear His voice.” This advice came at a time when I was struggling with prayer, and it was just what I needed. This seemed to be a theme in Father’s stories – there is help, it will come when you call, when you need it. You are loved, not only by God, but in your imperfection, you are also imperfectly loved by your brothers and sisters in Christ.
The world seems very broken right now. Of course, this has always been true. We are, however, mired in our own times and own worries and fail to see this. Father Siniari reminds us with his stories, that there is a way through it, even if we only catch glimpses of that path in our humanness and then through a glass darkly. I will take all the road signs I can get, and I was grateful for this collection to point me on my way.
This is a beautiful book about the grace of God in our everyday lives and the grace we extend to each other in our brokenness when we live in community with our Orthodox brothers and sisters.
Father Siniari gives us a collection of short stories that help us navigate the pain of this world as we seek God in our lives. He does not shy away from the ugliness, the hurt, the evil we wrestle with and with each story he gives us a thread of beauty, sometimes slender, sometimes glowing with the glory of God, but always present.
I particularly liked the advice of Matushka Colleen in “Three-Stitch Prayer,” to “Pray for prayer. Pray to be real. Pray for stillness so you can hear His voice.” This advice came at a time when I was struggling with prayer, and it was just what I needed. This seemed to be a theme in Father’s stories – there is help, it will come when you call, when you need it. You are loved, not only by God, but in your imperfection, you are also imperfectly loved by your brothers and sisters in Christ.
The world seems very broken right now. Of course, this has always been true. We are, however, mired in our own times and own worries and fail to see this. Father Siniari reminds us with his stories, that there is a way through it, even if we only catch glimpses of that path in our humanness and then through a glass darkly. I will take all the road signs I can get, and I was grateful for this collection to point me on my way.
October 31, 2020
I listened to an Ancient Faith Radio podcast with the author and decided to try the book. In the interview the author/priest was kind, funny and quick-witted.
The book was a delightful surprise, sort of 'All Things Great and Small' type of book. Great stories, sad stories, hopeful stories, honest stories about people and their priest. While I think Orthodox Christians will understand the stories better, Christians of all persuasions will enjoy it. It's near the end of October and it's the best book I've read this year, maybe even in five years, maybe longer - the book is already a classic in my view. And I read many books.
In the interview the priest said he had another 300 stories or so - I pray he publishes them. I'm tempted to pay for them to get published just to read them.
One thing that did trip me up - the name of the church, St Alexander the Whirling Dervish. Even as an Orthodox I thought the name may be part of a joke that I wasn't getting, but it's not. It was helpful to me to find St Alexander - his story/hagiography is fantastic and worth your effort. Short version - a dervish is type of Muslim monastic, and a whirling dervish is a type of fool-for-Christ, but for Muslims. Anyway, St Alexander's conversion to Christianity was quite a blow to Muslims. That side story made the stories in the book even more special.
READ THE BOOK!
The book was a delightful surprise, sort of 'All Things Great and Small' type of book. Great stories, sad stories, hopeful stories, honest stories about people and their priest. While I think Orthodox Christians will understand the stories better, Christians of all persuasions will enjoy it. It's near the end of October and it's the best book I've read this year, maybe even in five years, maybe longer - the book is already a classic in my view. And I read many books.
In the interview the priest said he had another 300 stories or so - I pray he publishes them. I'm tempted to pay for them to get published just to read them.
One thing that did trip me up - the name of the church, St Alexander the Whirling Dervish. Even as an Orthodox I thought the name may be part of a joke that I wasn't getting, but it's not. It was helpful to me to find St Alexander - his story/hagiography is fantastic and worth your effort. Short version - a dervish is type of Muslim monastic, and a whirling dervish is a type of fool-for-Christ, but for Muslims. Anyway, St Alexander's conversion to Christianity was quite a blow to Muslims. That side story made the stories in the book even more special.
READ THE BOOK!
August 21, 2020
This book was a surprise and delight. I don’t usually read short stories, but I couldn’t resist a collection that dives into life in an American Orthodox parish. Wow. These stories sear right through you. I wanted to devour them but had to make myself stop at the end of each one and let it sink in before picking up the book again. The characters are the essence of real people. They make you laugh, they do horrific things, they live out lives that are too strange to be fictional, and they are so very human. The writing style is also striking—dialects come and go, seemingly random little details are fully illustrated to place you right there with the characters, and some particularly wrenching moments are gently glossed over and left to the reader to unpack. The author broke a lot of the so-called rules for fiction, and it really worked to his advantage. I couldn’t love this book hard enough.
Ancient Faith Publishing provided me with a copy of Big In Heaven in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Ancient Faith Publishing provided me with a copy of Big In Heaven in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
August 9, 2020
I’m going to read it again. And for someone like me, who loves to accomplish tasks and check off items on a to-do list, it’s high praise to label a task or book one that I’d want to start over & do again.
The stories in this book were not what I expected. They are raw, poetic, terse. And I cried more than I’d like to admit. Each story left me wanting to be better, wishing to pay attention, to slow down.
Every Orthodox person will be able to relate to a story in this collection - the book itself being a kind of microcosm of every Orthodox faith community. The portraits of the ancient immigrant mothers & fathers; the young, optimistic converts; the broken, caring priest who always says the hard things; all a part of a unique but typical Orthodox church where faith is paper-thin but strong as steel.
The stories in this book were not what I expected. They are raw, poetic, terse. And I cried more than I’d like to admit. Each story left me wanting to be better, wishing to pay attention, to slow down.
Every Orthodox person will be able to relate to a story in this collection - the book itself being a kind of microcosm of every Orthodox faith community. The portraits of the ancient immigrant mothers & fathers; the young, optimistic converts; the broken, caring priest who always says the hard things; all a part of a unique but typical Orthodox church where faith is paper-thin but strong as steel.
September 24, 2020
A collection of short stories about a fictional Orthodox parish in the Philadelphia area. I lost steam in reading this one as there was a sameness about each story that in some ways made them predictable. The book does not try to portray an Orthodox parish or the parish clergy or diocesan clergy in purely positive ways. The characters including the clergy have faults, foibles and failures. Each story looks at one or more persons related to the fictional parish. The parish comes off as an Old World Orthodox village parish. Parishioners often know more about Orthodox rules and regulations covering ritual practices than about theology, but sometimes their actions are more gospel oriented than they may have intended. I read the book "for fun" - reading short stories to kill time. Some might like the portrayal of an old world village church in America.
May 3, 2026
This book pulls you in right from the start. I laughed, cried, and couldn’t put it down. The author truly knows how to write short stories. His style mixes the appeal of classic writers with fresh, modern touches.
Some of the stories are easy to get through quickly, while others make you want to go back and read them again.
The description of the characters—their dress, speech, and interactions—is uniquely timeless.
The book discusses the Orthodox religion in a way that feels personal and respectful, without being intrusive.
I can't wait to read more books by this author.
Some of the stories are easy to get through quickly, while others make you want to go back and read them again.
The description of the characters—their dress, speech, and interactions—is uniquely timeless.
The book discusses the Orthodox religion in a way that feels personal and respectful, without being intrusive.
I can't wait to read more books by this author.
April 13, 2021
Fr. Stephen knows what working class city parishes are like by personal experience, and the setting of these stories are all in one of them, tying them together, which makes for in-depth character development of the fictional parish's priest. The stories, though fictional, feel true to life, truer than most non-fiction. The name of the parish is hilarious, and there is subtle humor in many of the stories.
March 11, 2022
Wow. This book was beautiful, heartbreaking, joyful, and hard all at once. It's also one to read a second time to get yet more out of the stories. (I don't necessarily recommend reading it in the first week after giving birth when your hormones are going wild unless you want to cry, a lot, like I did, while reading some of the stories.)
July 1, 2024
I think I want to be Eastern Orthodox now. Just kidding but the book was great and reminded me a little of the first Mitford book, but better and more liturgical. Thanks Abigail Banek for lending it to me.
December 20, 2020
I loved this book! It was touching, funny, real, and such a great description of the Orthodox Faith. I wept for most of the people described in the stories, especially for Father Nahum.
December 4, 2022
An incredible read...highly recommend for all. Incredibly insightful stories about a fictitious small, ethnic urban parish that resonates with eternal truths. Would make an amazing Christmas present!
April 7, 2023
I was sure that Big in Heaven was going to be the best book I would read in 2023. Now it may be tied with its sequel, Secret Turning. Either way, Fr Stephen Siniari has triumphed in bringing Eastern Orthodoxy in America to life. It centers around an Albanian Orthodox community in Philadelphia which he knew very well. It's not autobiographical, just taken from life. Each story is truly short. I would read one or two each night before falling asleep. The people I met in his stories were so well drawn, so real, that I found myself praying for some of them. I mourned with them, laughed with them, laughed at them and sometimes cried for them. Father Stephen's style is unlike any I have encountered with short, terse sentences. Paragraphs were often one sentence. Sometimes I was confused at what something meant. But it didn't matter. I would come to the end of EVERY story and sigh and was grateful to have read it.
Listening to an interview with Father Stephen on Ancient Faith Radio, I learned that he doesn't want to hear praise, only criticism. He is a funny man in person. His writing is often funny, laugh out loud funny.
As an aside, it turns out that my husband, also an Orthodox priest, also read Big in Heaven, and I didn't even know it. I came away gushing about the book, as did a friend who I gave a copy to. He came away seeing as just a description of what it is like to be a priest. He doesn't read much fiction and I read much fiction. Maybe that was the difference.
Listening to an interview with Father Stephen on Ancient Faith Radio, I learned that he doesn't want to hear praise, only criticism. He is a funny man in person. His writing is often funny, laugh out loud funny.
As an aside, it turns out that my husband, also an Orthodox priest, also read Big in Heaven, and I didn't even know it. I came away gushing about the book, as did a friend who I gave a copy to. He came away seeing as just a description of what it is like to be a priest. He doesn't read much fiction and I read much fiction. Maybe that was the difference.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews