The Prologue of Ohrid

By: St. Nikolai of Ohrid and Zhicha (Velimirovic)

Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections, and Homilies for Every Day of the Year (Complete, Amplified, Revised, and Expanded)
St Nikolai (1880-1956) has been called the “Serbian Chrysostom” for his theological depth and golden tongued eloquence. His Prologue has become a much-loved spiritual classic for Orthodox Christians worldwide.

In this new edition of the Prologue, a complete, amplified, revised, and expanded English translation has been made available. The editors saw the need to include many saints from among the various Orthodox peoples over the course of the past ninety years who are not found in the original Prologue. Among these new saints are, for example, the holy Elders Porphyrios and Paisios, the holy Bishops John of San Francisco and Mardarije of Libertyille, and thousands of New Martyrs.

An inspirational source-book of the Orthodox Faith, it contains within its pages a summation of the Church’s wisdom and its experience of sanctity through the grace of Christ. Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies are presented for every day of the year. The text of this 1,624-page magnum opus of St. Nikolai has been translated from the Serbian and edited by Bishop Maxim, the clergy and monastics of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America.

Nearly ninety years after the release of the first edition of the Prologue of Ohrid, Sebastian Press is publishing a new, complete, amplified, revised, and expanded version! All the names of the known and new saints have been added by the editors. Saint Nikolai of Ohrid and Zhicha (1880–1956) has an ardent desire that the whole world recognizes the Orthodox salvific truth of Christ, Who is revealed and glorified through His Saints. For this reason, he wrote the Prologue of Ohrid, a compendium that includes the Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections, and Homilies for every day of the year.

What is the main difference between the first and second edition? In this latest edition of the Prologue, Sebastian Press is responding to the need to include the many saints from amongst Orthodox peoples over the course of the past ninety years that were not found in the original Prologue, nor universally known. We must remark that St. Nikolai offered the same explanation for writing his Prologue in 1928, since he noticed the absence of many saints in the ancient Slavonic Prologue.

How many Saints were included in the first edition? The Prologue, first written in 1928, had a limited collection of the Saints known at the time. The number of Saints in the first edition was approximately one thousand and five hundred (1,500).

How many Saints were included in the second edition? In subsequent years, the Church has included in its calendar a great number of newly proclaimed Saints, and they are commemorated on their respective dates. The number of Saints in the second edition is more than five thousand (5,000).

Any example? Indeed, many new holy men and women have flourished since 1928. Among these new Saints are, for example, the Holy Elders Porphyrios and Paisios from Greece, the Holy Bishops John of Shanghai and San Francisco and Mardarije of Libertyille and Chicago, and thousands of New Martyrs. Even the author of the Prologue, Holy Bishop Nikolai, was proclaimed a saint by the Church in 2003.

Other differences? This edition is adorned with more than 300 illustrations of the Saints! What were the sources for the new edition? As primary sources for new additions, we have used the Synaxarion of Simonos Petra Monastery, Mount Athos; the St. Herman Calendar of St. Herman Monastery, Platina, California; and other contemporary (Greek, Russian, and other) Lives of the Saints.