Lara NeriApr 19, 20196 minBy death He trampled deathI love Easter so much that it is hard to write about it. I cry thinking about it. It is the most full of true joy, the most expressive of...
Lara NeriApr 11, 20195 minFlowery Sunday in ConstantinopleFlowery (Palm) Sunday began to be celebrated in Constantinople by the fifth century - a couple centuries after it began in Jerusalem and...
Lara NeriApr 4, 20194 minOnward & UpwardI remember listening in amazement in high school chapel at my Christian school as various guest speakers told of dramatic conversions...
Lara NeriMar 21, 20194 minsaying yes to losing controlWhen I was younger I did not want the mess, the noise, the chaos, or the financial burden of children. And I was under the impression...
Lara NeriMar 19, 20193 minSuperheroes & the Triumph of OrthodoxyThe first time I remember seeing an icon was in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. I was taking a class in Israel my sophomore year...
Lara NeriFeb 28, 20193 minWill "Beauty save the world"?I have often heard or seen Dostoevsky quoted, “Beauty will save the world.” It is attributed to him as if it were his personal...
Lara NeriFeb 21, 20194 minApproaching Great Lent: all are responsible for allSeveral years ago, after very emotional struggles with infertility and two heartbreaking miscarriages, we began our first adoption. It...
Lara NeriFeb 14, 20193 minSt. Valentine: active love is labor and fortitudeIn our family, we have four very intense children, two adopted with trauma histories, one with secondary trauma, one with a missing...
Lara NeriFeb 7, 20193 minSt. Scholastica & the loving fatherhood of GodI have a hard time relating to the saints who knew they were going to be nuns from the time they were six - those saints who wanted to do...
Lara NeriFeb 1, 20192 minSuffering & SofteningThe feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple (2 February) is one of the Twelve Major Feast Days in the Eastern Church, also...
Lara NeriJan 25, 20193 minThe Byzantine Church as MicrocosmThe interior of a Byzantine Church should be a three dimensional icon; the Church is a model of the universe, a vision of the redeemed, a...
Lara NeriJan 17, 20194 minHow is iconography different from other religious art?One Sunday after liturgy, I overheard a visitor to our church commenting on the iconography, “Why do the figures look so strange? They...
Lara NeriJul 26, 20162 minart camps: pursuing Beauty togetherTwo intensive weeks of art camps have come to an end, and I am thankful for the experience. I kept enrollment to four students per camp...
Lara NeriJul 6, 20162 miniconography: window to the DivineI have just returned from a beautiful, powerful, intense experience where art and prayer were indistinguishable. I have come away with a...
Lara NeriMay 9, 20161 minthe transformative power of storyVarious influences were dropped into my path that lead me into the Catholic Church, one of the most prominent being the work of Fyodor...
Lara NeriMay 6, 20162 minthe feast of the AscensionI love this quiet, mid-week feast day celebrating Christ's rising up to Heaven in His resurrected body. He leaves us with the commission...
Lara NeriApr 26, 20162 mincreating a sacred space in the homeWhen I was living in St. Petersburg, I rented a small, airy room in a sunny, high-ceilinged apartment on the corner of Dostoevsky Street...
Lara NeriApr 3, 20161 minChrist is risen! Indeed He is risen!Pascha is my favorite time of the year! I love the joy of this season, the hope of rebirth and resurrection! We celebrate this day with...