What do you think?
Rate this book
Proloagele de la Ohrida #1
The Prologue of Ohrid: Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies For Every Day of the Year
This is perhaps the most famous and widely-used collection of lives of Orthodox saints written in the 20th century. The author of this huge work has now himself been added to the calendar of saints of the Orthodox Church, St. Nikolai Velimirovich. He served the Church as a bishop in both his native Serbia and the United States, and survived a Nazi torture camp. He was a great scholar, storyteller, and poet, as well as a great preacher and pastor.
These two volumes cover every day of the Orthodox Church ecclesiastical year with wonderful devotional and educational material for the edification of Christian individuals and families who wish to immerse themselves in the life of the Church. They may also be used as reference sources for the lives of the saints by using the alphabetical index of saints' names at the back of each volume.
The title of these books was given as The Prologue from Ochrid in the earlier abridged 4-volume edition published in England. The author's name is often transliterated into English as "Nikolaj Velimirovich".
This two-volume American edition published in 2002 is the only complete and unabridged edition in English, and includes the remarkable hymns written by St. Nikolai. It is a new translation from the original Serbian.
The good translation, readable type, pleasing layouts, and quality binding make this the definitive English edition
of the Prologue. --- Randall Mark Trainer
These two volumes cover every day of the Orthodox Church ecclesiastical year with wonderful devotional and educational material for the edification of Christian individuals and families who wish to immerse themselves in the life of the Church. They may also be used as reference sources for the lives of the saints by using the alphabetical index of saints' names at the back of each volume.
The title of these books was given as The Prologue from Ochrid in the earlier abridged 4-volume edition published in England. The author's name is often transliterated into English as "Nikolaj Velimirovich".
This two-volume American edition published in 2002 is the only complete and unabridged edition in English, and includes the remarkable hymns written by St. Nikolai. It is a new translation from the original Serbian.
The good translation, readable type, pleasing layouts, and quality binding make this the definitive English edition
of the Prologue. --- Randall Mark Trainer
839 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1926
About the author
Nikolaj Velimirović
151 books76 followersSveti vladika Nikolaj Ohridski i Žički (svetovno Nikola Velimirović; selo Lelić kod Valjeva, Kneževina Srbija, 23. decembar 1880/4. januar 1881 — Libertivil, SAD, 18. mart 1956) bio je episkop ohridski i žički, istaknuti teolog i govornik, otuda je nazivan Novi Zlatousti. Nikolaj Velimirović je novokanonizovani srpski svetitelj.
Njegovo rođeno ime je Nikola. U mladosti je teško oboleo od dizenterije i zakleo se da će posvetiti svoj život Bogu, ako preživi. Preživeo je i zamonašio se pod imenom Nikolaj. Velimirović je školovan na Zapadu i u mladosti je bio velik zastupnik liberalnih ideja i ekumenizma. Takođe je primljen u sveštenstvo i brzo je postao važna ličnost u Srpskoj pravoslavnoj crkvi, posebno u odnosima sa Zapadom. U međuratnom periodu postao je predvodnik pravoslavnih bogomoljaca i okrenuo se antievropejstvu i konzervativizmu. Osnivač je desničarske političke ideologije svetosavskog nacionalizma. Smatra se duhovnim inspiratorom Ljotićeve organizacije ZBOR. Često je kritikovan zbog antisemitskih stavova. Kada su u Drugom svetskom ratu Nemci okupirali Jugoslaviju, Velimirović je stavljen u kućni pritvor i na kraju odveden u logor Dahau, gde je proveo tri meseca pre nego što su ga Nemci oslobodili da bi pomogao u obrazovanju objedinjavanju jugoslovenskih kvislinga protiv nadiruće NOVJ i Crvene armije. Po završetku rata, Velimirović je odlučio da se ne vrati u Jugoslaviju, u koju su na vlast došli komunisti. Umesto toga, 1946. otišao je za Ameriku, gde je i ostao do svoje smrti 1956.
Njegovo rođeno ime je Nikola. U mladosti je teško oboleo od dizenterije i zakleo se da će posvetiti svoj život Bogu, ako preživi. Preživeo je i zamonašio se pod imenom Nikolaj. Velimirović je školovan na Zapadu i u mladosti je bio velik zastupnik liberalnih ideja i ekumenizma. Takođe je primljen u sveštenstvo i brzo je postao važna ličnost u Srpskoj pravoslavnoj crkvi, posebno u odnosima sa Zapadom. U međuratnom periodu postao je predvodnik pravoslavnih bogomoljaca i okrenuo se antievropejstvu i konzervativizmu. Osnivač je desničarske političke ideologije svetosavskog nacionalizma. Smatra se duhovnim inspiratorom Ljotićeve organizacije ZBOR. Često je kritikovan zbog antisemitskih stavova. Kada su u Drugom svetskom ratu Nemci okupirali Jugoslaviju, Velimirović je stavljen u kućni pritvor i na kraju odveden u logor Dahau, gde je proveo tri meseca pre nego što su ga Nemci oslobodili da bi pomogao u obrazovanju objedinjavanju jugoslovenskih kvislinga protiv nadiruće NOVJ i Crvene armije. Po završetku rata, Velimirović je odlučio da se ne vrati u Jugoslaviju, u koju su na vlast došli komunisti. Umesto toga, 1946. otišao je za Ameriku, gde je i ostao do svoje smrti 1956.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 19, 2012
I have been reading this daily for several years. It is very helpful to think on the saints of the day, and Bishop Velimirovic's homilies are frequently inspiring.
April 26, 2012
St. Nikolai Velimirovic's daily homilies and reflections are a blessing which keeps one's faith strong throughout the year.
July 5, 2022
This is a lives of the saints type book with an entry for every day of the year. So you could read it along side a daily Bible reading. Each entry has information about saints for that day, a reflection, hymn/poem, and homily.
The homilies are so so good! People call him a Serbian John Chrysostom (golden tongued on account of a beauty of expression in words) and I think this is justified. The translation is good.
The homilies are so so good! People call him a Serbian John Chrysostom (golden tongued on account of a beauty of expression in words) and I think this is justified. The translation is good.
December 31, 2018
2 book volume. Containing saints, reflections, and homilies for every day of the year. A gift from my sponsor that will always be cherished and will continue to be used daily.
January 3, 2023
Outstanding daily devotional read of the lives of the Orthodox Saints coupled with daily reflections and homilies.
June 17, 2018
Finished volume 1 on june 30th. Great tool to learn of the saints and to see Christ light in their lives. My children love hearing these stories.
January 1, 2025
Penetrating Thoughts
Often times the words and their meaning sneak up on you and you receive insight and great joy results from them.
Often times the words and their meaning sneak up on you and you receive insight and great joy results from them.
January 3, 2025
For all Christians
The Lives of the Saints will transform your life, added with splendid reflections and homilies in this wonderful, epic work by St. Nikolai
The Lives of the Saints will transform your life, added with splendid reflections and homilies in this wonderful, epic work by St. Nikolai
June 29, 2025
The lives of the saints was a treasure to read. I'm looking forward to vol II.
December 31, 2025
Worth Every Penny!
I know this book is pricey but what you get for the money is totally worth it! I read it every morning with my coffee.
I know this book is pricey but what you get for the money is totally worth it! I read it every morning with my coffee.
Read
July 11, 2022There are some wonderful wonderful original prose and poetic works here by the author.
Very inspiring in fact.
Some of my considerations as a first time read of hagiography (only half a year so far):
The first part of each day, which is on the saints I found to be sometimes a very small glimpse. Sometimes all you learn about three of four saints of the day is that they were holy and were martyred and their names. That may be enough from some perspective I'm not familiar with. While at least one saint per day is a little more detailed. But even then those details are usually also superficial like facts about where they lived, that they loved Christ, not something we get in a saint's autobiography or at-length biography. But sometimes we see distinguishing things like that they suffered for say 15 or 40 years straight in prison or exile. These do provide enough information to categorize the saint, who here would be distinguished by a long period of suffering (15 years) but we don't learn anything beyond that, which would distinguish them from other saints in that category, and which would teach us something about that particular cross they bore or that domain of life. So there is this repetition which reveals a pattern or category or theme in Christian life, but these patterns are not always acknowledged in this work, because the categories aren't, categories which some accounts here reveal to us something about, for example about the orthodox conception of right relations between parent and child, state and church, reason or education and faith. For example one saint spit in the face of her executioner and mocked him, while others were we might say more meek or even joyous, and some granted gifts of healing or wealth to their executioners. We may marvel here, at the wide range of potential use of anger by a saint. And cearly the amount of information St Nikolai assembles, is enough to reveal many things about these categories or domains of life from the saints. And sometimes he addresses this very thing in his later reflections and homilies, albeit not always in explicit terms, since this doesn't seem to be his focus (to be categorical). You would have to organize the information yourself. And that is what I have done. And that is what I would recommend to the reader. Do you have questions about the particulars of our ethic? Look for them here. You might find your questions here too.
Of course I don't expect the level of detail an autobiography would have, of the saint like St Sophrony's work, or for St Nikolai to have read such works for each saint wherever possible and to summarize it, keeping the very distinguishing marks. So don't expect him to look for these frequently questioned themes, and include lives of saints only when it provides new information about the life theme. Instead he draws out themes from the daily scripture readings on the calendar.
I think he didn't do the general themes because he seemed anti-philosophy, verging on misology, acknowledging no role for reason (even when healed) other than executing ascetic labors or errands. Ironically, he seems to have taken on empiricists' philosophical assumptions (kind of like St Nikodemus may have, who praised John Locke), which denies the reality of categories or themes. This is a philosophy, and he seemed insistent on it, and while he denied philosophy, he did apologetics in many homilies, using reason to combat heresies. So it's a little confusing on this point for me.
Very inspiring in fact.
Some of my considerations as a first time read of hagiography (only half a year so far):
The first part of each day, which is on the saints I found to be sometimes a very small glimpse. Sometimes all you learn about three of four saints of the day is that they were holy and were martyred and their names. That may be enough from some perspective I'm not familiar with. While at least one saint per day is a little more detailed. But even then those details are usually also superficial like facts about where they lived, that they loved Christ, not something we get in a saint's autobiography or at-length biography. But sometimes we see distinguishing things like that they suffered for say 15 or 40 years straight in prison or exile. These do provide enough information to categorize the saint, who here would be distinguished by a long period of suffering (15 years) but we don't learn anything beyond that, which would distinguish them from other saints in that category, and which would teach us something about that particular cross they bore or that domain of life. So there is this repetition which reveals a pattern or category or theme in Christian life, but these patterns are not always acknowledged in this work, because the categories aren't, categories which some accounts here reveal to us something about, for example about the orthodox conception of right relations between parent and child, state and church, reason or education and faith. For example one saint spit in the face of her executioner and mocked him, while others were we might say more meek or even joyous, and some granted gifts of healing or wealth to their executioners. We may marvel here, at the wide range of potential use of anger by a saint. And cearly the amount of information St Nikolai assembles, is enough to reveal many things about these categories or domains of life from the saints. And sometimes he addresses this very thing in his later reflections and homilies, albeit not always in explicit terms, since this doesn't seem to be his focus (to be categorical). You would have to organize the information yourself. And that is what I have done. And that is what I would recommend to the reader. Do you have questions about the particulars of our ethic? Look for them here. You might find your questions here too.
Of course I don't expect the level of detail an autobiography would have, of the saint like St Sophrony's work, or for St Nikolai to have read such works for each saint wherever possible and to summarize it, keeping the very distinguishing marks. So don't expect him to look for these frequently questioned themes, and include lives of saints only when it provides new information about the life theme. Instead he draws out themes from the daily scripture readings on the calendar.
I think he didn't do the general themes because he seemed anti-philosophy, verging on misology, acknowledging no role for reason (even when healed) other than executing ascetic labors or errands. Ironically, he seems to have taken on empiricists' philosophical assumptions (kind of like St Nikodemus may have, who praised John Locke), which denies the reality of categories or themes. This is a philosophy, and he seemed insistent on it, and while he denied philosophy, he did apologetics in many homilies, using reason to combat heresies. So it's a little confusing on this point for me.
December 29, 2025
I finished volume II a couple of days early. The volumes were suggested by the Byzantine Church I was attending so I moved them from my top shelf and started reading Vol I in March. I'm glad i didn't procrastinate any longer as both were excellent reads.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews