Welcome
"One of my most popular classes is on women mystics, such as Julian of Norwich. We start with the big question: what does it mean to see God? We talk about some biblical precedents, but then start with the Desert Mothers and Fathers, and early monasticism, and then jump to the 10th and 11th centuries. Students who are unsure of their relationship to Christianity, but are interested in a relationship with the divine, find these women's writings to be compelling.”
Jennifer Awes Freeman
Our Benefactors
Are you interested in a walking pilgrimage? Not sure how to get started?
Jennifer Nahas was a pilgrimage instructor at REI for seven years and has also been on two full Camino walks of over 500 miles.
In this webinar, she will cover the spiritual, physical, and practical (gear!) aspects of preparing for a walking pilgrimage, using walking the Camino as a case study.
We hope you can join us!
$12 (Orthodox women only, please.)
If cost is a barrier, please let us know.
Friday, April 26, 2024
“A ritual is the highest form of habit.”
This opening explanation from Dr. Ioana Popa led the beginning of her webinar, Space, Rituals and Your Mind: How to Support Sacred Habits Using Your Surroundings. The event, which Axia co-hosted for the first time with the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, began with an excellent introduction by Dr. Elizabeth Theokritoff, who set the context of Orthodox women’s challenges and opportunities - particularly in the UK, where they are based.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Why do you walk?
This opening question was asked by Jennifer Nahas during our most recent Axia webinar, How to Prepare for a Walking Pilgrimage. Participants answered with statements such as:
Walking helps to calm me and ground me and also to connect me to the beauty of creation and to God.
Walking puts something substantive on my habit of prayer and silence and being.
To reset and get perspective.
To connect with a saint or sacred place.
I walk to focus my attention (and feel free).
Friday, March 22, 2024
Eighteen years ago, on behalf of the Fellowship of St. Moses the Black (of which she is currently President), Abbess Katherine Weston, whom Axia spotlighted last July before the work premiered, began experimenting with using African-American Spirituals as a source or inspiration for Orthodox liturgical composition. She finished the entire Jubilee Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in 2023 and premiered it at the Fellowship’s conference in Houston last October.