This new edition of excerpts from St. Nikolai’s Prayers by the Lake (previously titled by the publishers as “Seasonal Reflections”) is a specifically chosen collection of St. Nikolai’s prayers which weave together themes on preparing one’s soul for the coming Nativity of Christ. This new edition has all the features of the well-known Series of Akathists published by the monastery, being colorfully adorned throughout.
Included in the publication is an introductory Hymn of Praise, wherein St. Justin (Popovic), the spiritual son of St. Nikolai, is quoted as saying: “I read and reread Prayers by the Lake, but all their sweet allurement swims into my soul only when I read and reread them prayerfully. He, a wonderworker of prayerful rhythms, has power over my soul. I tell myself: ‘I am locked in the senses, I think by means of the senses, but when his [Bishop Nikolai’s] wonderworking prayer flows through my repentant soul, at once the senses—these shackles of the soul—are unshackled; and my soul, my wounded bird, regains her wings and flies off, diving into the sweet depths of Eternity.”
