Orthodox Christian Recorded Books

03/03/2025

The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, chanted Monday-Thursday this week, sets the tone for all of Great Lent. Download this beautiful recording, read and sung in English by the St. Alexander Nevsky Church Ensemble. Good strength to us all this fast!

Each year the season of Great Lent begins with the solemn chanting of the penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete, who lived in the 7th–8th centuries. In this canon the reader recalls famous personages of the Old and New Testaments, comparing their lives to his own, and thus preparing himself for...

07/18/2024

FREE DOWNLOAD! Now available: ToneTutor 101 Workbook with sheet music. https://www.ocrb.org/products/tonetutor101

At long last and after much labor, sheet music for ToneTutor 101 is now available to download. Designed as a companion to the ToneTutor 101 audio course, this workbook containing the melody line for all eight tones is also an excellent reference for use by choir directors and chanters during the divine services.

Just click the link below and select the last item in the dropdown menu: "Workbook - PDF Download."

https://www.ocrb.org/products/tonetutor101

ToneTutor 101 - An Audio Course in the Eight Tones of the Russian Orthodox Church If you’ve ever wanted to learn the eight tones of the Russian Orthodox Church, now you can! ToneTutor 101 gives you private lessons in the comfort of your home or car. Experienced chanters walk you through the melody...

05/07/2024

Christ is Risen! Христос Воскресе! Χριστός Ανέστη!

FREE download! Instead of the usual morning and evening prayers, all this week we sing the short and jubilant hours of Pascha. These hours are available to you as a gift from the St. Alexander Nevsky Church Ensemble, for prayer and for learning to sing them on your own.

05/03/2024

MP3 Download: The Lamentations. https://www.ocrb.org/collections/prayers/products/the-lamentations-mp3-download

Are you or a loved one unable to be in church tonight? The Lamentations at matins of Great and Holy Saturday mark the transition from mourning over Christ's death to joy at His approaching Resurrection. This full-length recording, beautifully and prayerfully chanted in English to the Greek melodies by the St. Alexander Nevsky Church Ensemble, is intended as an aid to worship for anyone who is unable to be present in church tonight.

04/12/2024

Greetings with the feast of St. John of the Ladder! Download our heartfelt audio recording of his masterpiece, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent." Now only $19.95, to enable more people to acquire and benefit from this magnificent handbook of spiritual warfare.

“Ascend, brothers, ascend” – such was the call of St. John Climacus, a 7th century ascetic and abbot of St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai in Egypt. A master of the art of spiritual warfare, he envisioned the ascent to heaven as a ladder of virtues attained and sins conquered...

03/18/2024

Are you or someone you love unable to be in church this week for the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete? Download this beautiful recording, read and sung in English by the St. Alexander Nevsky Church Ensemble. Wishing you all a blessed Great Lent!

Each year the season of Great Lent begins with the solemn chanting of the penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete, who lived in the 7th–8th centuries. In this canon the reader recalls famous personages of the Old and New Testaments, comparing their lives to his own, and thus preparing himself for...

02/09/2024

NEW from OCRB! The Reader's Workshop - an audio introduction to the art of reading aloud in church. Learn the basics of Orthodox church reading in under an hour. An invaluable resource for missions, recent converts, and for any parish looking to involve more people in reading the divine services.

04/14/2023

MP3 Download: The Lamentations, sung in English

The Lamentations, sung at matins of Great and Holy Saturday, mark the transition from mourning over Christ's death to joy at His approaching resurrection. This full-length recording, beautifully and prayerfully chanted in English to the Greek melodies by the St. Alexander Nevsky Church Ensemble, is intended as an aid to worship for those unable to be present in church.

The Lamentations are sung at Matins of Holy and Great Friday before the tomb, or epitaphios -- an large icon of the body of Christ laid out for burial, placed in the middle of the church and surrounded with flowers. The entire 18th kathisma of the Psalter is read, and at each verse hymns are sung, f...

02/27/2023

"The arena of the virtues has been opened. Let all who wish to struggle for the prize now enter!"

The sublime canon of St. Andrew of Crete sets the tone for all of Great Lent. If you or someone you know is unable to be at all the services this week, take advantage of this beautiful recording by the St. Alexander Nevsky Church Ensemble, with the canon read by our founder, Archpriest Chad Williams.

Each year the season of Great Lent begins with the solemn chanting of the penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete, who lived in the 7th–8th centuries. In this canon the reader recalls famous personages of the Old and New Testaments, comparing their lives to his own, and thus preparing himself for...

08/27/2022

Greetings with tomorrow's feast of the Dormition! A great time to revisit this beautiful recording from our archives.

A beautiful account from the Menology of St. Dimitrius of Rostov of the later life and repose of Mary, the most-pure Virgin Mother of God. Her earthly life following the Lord's ascent into Heaven, descriptions of her from the writings of her contemporaries, and the miraculous events leading up to he...

03/15/2021

Please share with those unable to be in church this week! This recording of the Great Canon was created by our choir specifically for private prayer. God keep you all this Lenten season!

Each year the season of Great Lent begins with the solemn chanting of the penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete, who lived in the 7th–8th centuries. In this canon the reader recalls famous personages of the Old and New Testaments, comparing their lives to his own, and thus preparing himself for...