Resurrecting the voices of Schmemann, Meyendorff, Koulomzin, and more

The day after I recently shared a link on our social media pages about a wonderful resource I didn’t want people to forget about, we received this touching message in an email:

“I am overcome with emotion this morning as I listen to Father Alexander [Schmemann]’s lectures in liturgical theology. What an amazing gift you all have provided the world…and me. I have been desperate to hear his lectures, lamenting the fact that he died (memory eternal) three years before I was born. I truly cannot tell you how blessed and grateful I am for this gift!”

You may or may not remember the launch of the Preserving & Resurrecting Orthodox Christian Voices project last summer, thanks to a partnership with the Virginia H. Farah Foundation. I remember a lot of encouraging, positive feedback at the time from people who were overjoyed to hear digitized recordings of so many brilliant and renowned Orthodox theologians and teachers of the past and present.

This time around, I wasn’t expecting to hear the same kind of buzz a year after launching the (free!) resource, maybe just some “likes” and shares—but that’s exactly what we did hear. The gentleman who sent us those kind words above, Porter Taylor (who happens to be the editor of a book about Fr. Alexander, We Give our Thanks unto Thee) wasn’t the only one emailing or posting about how excited they were to be listening to all the lectures and sermons on offer.

Shame on me for being surprised about this—after all, as Orthodox Christianity is timeless, so too is the wisdom and insight of its saints and teachers. No matter what year it is or how long ago the digi.svots website was launched, what’s not to get excited about knowing that these precious recordings are available for the next generation and beyond?

If you haven’t signed up yet, access to the recordings on digi.svots is free but requires registering for a free account. And do help spread the word, because this stuff is too great not to share!