The life of a princess isn’t all glamour, handsome princes, and beautiful clothes. It’s also devotion to duty, sacrifice for your people, and a lot of just plain hard work. And if your country happens to suffer two world wars and a communist takeover in your lifetime, it means danger and suffering, exile and heartache as well. Princess Ileana of Romania endured all this and more. But her deeply rooted Orthodox faith saw her through it all, and eventually led her in her later years to the peaceful repose of monasticism. But that life included sacrifice and hard work as well, because as Mother Alexandra she was called to build the first English-language Orthodox women’s monastery in the United States—the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. Princess Ileana’s story is a thrilling tale of love and loss, danger and rescue, sacrifice and reward. Her inspiring life stands as a beacon of faith and holiness for young women of all times and nations to follow.
"Royal Monastic [is] a comprehensive and enjoyable read for any age…Readers will learn to appreciate the woman who lived on three continents during the most troubled time in modern history--a woman who in some ways could identify with everyone she met, yet in other ways with no one on earth."
-- Mother Christophora, Abbess, Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration
"Royal Monastic is an excellent and engaging historical biography of a truly remarkable princess turned monastic. Mother Alexandra is an example of Orthodox Christian virtues of love, suffering and self-sacrifice."
-- Chrissi Hart, Author of Under the Grapevine: A Miracle by Saint Kendeas and The Hermit, The Icon and The Emperor: The Holy Virgin Comes to Cyprus
Bev. Cooke is the author of Keeper of the Light: Saint Macrina, Grandmother of Saints (Conciliar Press, 2006) and Feral (Orca Book Publishers, 2008). She lives in Victoria, British Columbia. Learn more about Bev. and her work at www.bevcooke.ca.
Purchase Royal Monastic at www.conciliarpress.com.
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1 comment:
This book is so amazing.
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