Author Archives: maryangelis

About maryangelis

Hello Readers! (= Здравствуйте, Читатели!) The writer lives in the Catholic and Orthodox faiths and the English and Russian languages, working in an archive by day and writing at night. Her walk in the world is normally one human being and one small detail after another. Then she goes home and types about it all until the soup is done.

12/23: Winter Solstice, 1995

Posted on December 24, 2013 by maryangelis

Kyrie and I found a studio to live in, just in time for winter. It took seven months of searching to find a management company who allowed small birds, but at last I signed the lease for one year in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

12/13: Immaculate

Posted on December 10, 2013 by maryangelis

Just for the record, just so you know who you are dealing with here, when that unexpected detour came along all I wanted was to stay alert and keep moving. After all, we were two women in a neighborhood famous … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

11/7: Re-Confessed

Posted on November 11, 2013 by maryangelis

This week I went to confession, after not going for years. Years? How did that happen? Because at the Sacrament of Reconciliation, overworked parish priests haven’t had time to sit there and figure out what-all I was rattling on about. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Film Review, “I’ll Be Around” (2012) — Я буду рядом

Posted on October 17, 2013 by maryangelis

An appealing lovable courageous heroine faces her own mortality. It’s a grand film tradition in Russia. It is in America too. “No Sad Songs For Me,” “Love Story,” “Beaches,” “Shadowlands,” “Terms of Endearment” — we still make them, and still … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Commemoration Kutia (Кутья на память)

Posted on August 25, 2013 by maryangelis

A dish with sweets for the senses, and the soul: At church last night before Vespers there was a candlelight Moleben, a supplication service. This one was a memorial for a young man in Ukraine. After the chanting and incense … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

7.14.13 White Peony

Posted on July 14, 2013 by maryangelis

It was a clear hot summer day, just before sunrise. Walking from Winthrop to the Blue Line train at Orient Point, I jogged along through tall blond reeds under the flight path to Logan. Plane after plane loomed sounds and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

6/15: Anybody’s Kitchen

Posted on May 27, 2013 by maryangelis

I was carrying bathwater to the porch when the phone rang. “It’s a case for Mary!” said Cashier Robin, calling from the Food Coop. “A family here needs a cooking teacher for their new diet. No sugar, dairy, wheat, nightshades, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 7 Comments

4/22: God Willing: one small urban garden

Posted on April 21, 2013 by maryangelis

The neighbors were oh so not amused. They’d held down this Irish Catholic turf for three generations, on a street of houses with three floors plus attic and an asphalt driveway with a car or two. Each had a little … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

4/13: Bowed Psaltery

Posted on April 13, 2013 by maryangelis

The bowed psaltery had her first music gig today. My volunteer organization invited her to come entertain at the registration table for our annual meeting. First, the flyers. Flyers are good because when people ask “What’cha got there?” it’s nice … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

3.18: Lent (Великий Пост)

Posted on March 19, 2013 by maryangelis

A very small story, in honor of the first day of Orthodox Lent. In the year 1907 at Optina Pustyna Monastery, two twenty-year-old Sisters came to a cell deep in the forest to confess to Father Varsonofii, their spiritual elder. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments