43

The Blessings of Nicholas Mogilevsky

By Clay Lane

Passengers sharing Bishop Nicholas’s Moscow-bound flight found his blessings faintly silly — but that was when the engines were still running.

44

The Bearded Foreigner

By Clay Lane

A Japanese swordsman confronts a Russian monk for... actually, he’s not really quite sure.

45

The Grand Embassy

By Clay Lane

A young Peter the Great of Russia toured Europe seeking help for his diplomatic, military and architectural plans.

46

St Nicholas the Wet

By Clay Lane

Two frantic parents implore St Nicholas’s help in rescuing their baby boy.

47

Gytha and Vladimir

By Clay Lane

Scandinavian tradition says that the daughter of King Harold was consort to one the great rulers of Kievan Rus’.

48

Our Lady’s Mantle

By Clay Lane

Shortly after Askold and Dir founded Kiev in 862, they launched a brazen but ill-fated assault on the capital of the Roman Empire.