Lara NeriMay 30, 20193 minAscending Hero MountainWhen I taught English in China, we were in a filthy, rat-infested village, crawling with giant cockroaches and shrouded in a pervasive...
Lara NeriMay 2, 20194 minCrowning the Warrior QueenOn my journey into the Catholic Church, Mary was a real problem for me for a while. Even after I realized that Catholics do not worship...
Lara NeriApr 24, 20193 minI'm just a girlThis coming Sunday is Thomas Sunday. I have always liked this Apostle, as I really relate to him, at least as far as struggling with...
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 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 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 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 NeriMay 5, 20161 minthe feast of St. GeorgeSt. George is a popular saint, renowned for slaying a dragon and saving a princess. He is venerated as a vanquisher of evil and knight of...
Lara NeriMay 2, 20163 mindoing shots for the saintsThe first time I met Babushka, my friend Ira’s 76 year old grandmother, she appeared as a tiny speck in a row boat across the water. As...
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...
Lara NeriFeb 12, 20162 minWhy come to an Akathist Art Girls' Night Out workshop?In these times, in our country, many women live isolated lives. Mothers feel societal pressure to do everything themselves - the cooking,...