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WELCOME
TO OUR WEB SITE!
We are in the process of reconfiguring our website, and re-establishing a working shopping cart (which crashed after a "server migration" by our web host, which they couldn't fix). At long last we are able to access our website again in order to make updates, which we are working on now even while waiting for the reconstruction of our site. Everything listed here is always available. Plus, 22 of our most popular videos are available on DVD at the same price (most of our English videos and 4 of our 7 Services in Russia). We also are in the process of converting our audio tapes to CD. We apologize that our shopping cart is not working at the present.
Until our shopping cart is working again, please place your orders either by e-mail (info@firebirdvideos.com) or by phone (313-535-9080, between noon and 8pm, Eastern time). We apologize for the inconvenience. We are always pleased to answer your questions. If you wish us to call you, please provide your phone #, and indicate the best time to call, and your time zone.
Contents of this page:
(You may click on the underlined brown
hyperlinks below to go directly to a particular section on this page. Click on the
rectangular buttons to the left --- or at the top, on other pages --- to navigate to
different sections and pages of our web site. We hope you enjoy your visit! There are
extensive pictures on all the other pages except this Home Page.)
ST. INNOCENT/FIREBIRD's mission
is to create a variety of high quality educational materials,
especially videos, about the Orthodox Christian Faith and its diverse cultural
expressions. ST. INNOCENT/ FIREBIRD's
ministry also seeks to assist people who wish to enhance their personal prayer/spiritual
life, by providing audio cassettes of chanted prayers and Psalms, and videos of Divine
Services. These also provide a service to the sight-impaired, home-bound, elderly and
those who live far from an Orthodox church.
ST. INNOCENT/ FIREBIRD
is an educational ministry of St. Innocent Religious
(Monastic) Community in Redford, Michigan, and its primary means of support. ST. INNOCENT/ FIREBIRD
produces and distributes videos,
audios and books about different aspects of the Orthodox Church --- its Faith, history,
practices, sacred arts, liturgical and spiritual life, saints' lives, and its
different ethnic and cultural expressions. Creating these items is our sole,
full-time ministry. We are America's primary producer of: Orthodox videos in English;
audio cassettes of chanted prayers, akathists and Psalms in English; Divine Services in
Russia; and the primary supplier of videos made in Russia about the Orthodox Church. We
intend for our work to express the unity-within-diversity of Orthodox Christianity,
and to contribute to promoting unity in America among the different ethnic expressions of
the one Orthodox Faith.
- (Click on the brown, underlined hyperlinks to go directly to the page for
that item.)
- (For a complete listing of 95 of our 113 products, with hyperlinks to each
page, click on: PRODUCT LIST.)
-
- PLEASE NOTE: WE NOW HAVE
SHOPPING CART CAPABILITIES,
SO, FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, YOU CAN ORDER SAFELY AND SECURELY
ON-LINE.
-
- A. VIDEOS:
- Our diverse 87 videotapes in English
and in Russian range in subject matter from the Life of St. Innocent of Alaska; to Divine Services in Russia,
Alaska and a Michigan monastery; to
how to make Orthodox Prayer Ropes
and Prosfora
(an all-new digital version), with a separate video available of just the Proskomedia;
to the complete Consecration of
Bishop Irineu; to the history, sacred arts, monasteries, churches and other
places in Russia; to lectures by American hierarchs; and to the present day life of the
Orthodox Church and her faithful in Russia.
-
- We are pleased to announce that we are now producing English voice-overs
of some of the outstanding Russian-made videos about the Orthodox Church that we
distribute. In May 2002 we added English voice-over versions of two of our most popular
Russian videos: The Life of Grand Duchess
St. Elizabeth Fedorovna Romanova and The Great Church of Russia: Christ the
Savior Cathedral. Between December 2002 and February 2003, we released
an additional 7 English voice-overs of outstanding Russian videos about the Orthodox
Church. Plus the complete GREAT CONSECRATION OF
CHRIST THE SAVIOR CATHEDRAL was released in October 2003.
-
- On November 1st and 2nd, 2002, in Detroit, Michigan, eight bishops of
different jurisdictions, presided over by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, Primate of
the Orthodox Church in America, celebrated a momentous event in the life of the Orthodox
Church in North America --- the consecration of an auxiliary bishop of the Romanian
Episcopate (OCA). We produced and directed the official 3-camera video-taping of the
complete Divine Services, plus a 1-camera production of the Banquet and reception. We have
now completed all the very extensive post-production editing, and have released the
complete, official videotapes of the CONSECRATION
OF BISHOP IRINEU, available on 4 videos, (which may be purchased separately
or together). These include the 4-hour, 2-video set of the complete HIERARCHAL DIVINE LITURGY
(#VE-27); VESPERS & RECEPTION,
with the Announcement of the Election and Calling of the Candidate to the Office of Bishop
(2 hours, #VE-28); and the CONSECRATION BANQUET
(2 hours, #VE-29). There is a $25.00 discount on the purchase of the complete set of 4
tapes (#VE-30). These are beautiful, all-digital, carefully-edited, professional
productions. We have also finished a (NEW) HIGHLIGHTS OF THE
CONSECRATION OF BISHOP IRINEU video that is
80 minutes (#VE-31).
-
- B. AUDIOS:
- We offer 15 audio recordings. Our own 14 all-English
audio-books include the Indication of the
Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven, written by St. Innocent of Alaska; the
complete chanted Psalms
in a set of 4 cassettes; and 8 cassettes of chanted prayers and Akathist
hymns, available individually or in two sets of 4. In addition, to satisfy
requests for audio recordings in Slavonic/Russian, we are distributing
two Slavonic items: a beautiful liturgical music
recording, the Divine Liturgy,
sung in Slavonic by the Russian Liturgical Singers, conducted by George Margitich, the
successor to Serge Jaroff and the Don Cossack Choir, available on CD and cassette.
We also have added a second CD by the same group: Russian Sacred Music
and Folk Songs. This is a newly released sequel to the first CD, and
is a recent digitally remastered version of the original 1973 recording. It
contains 12 folk selections and 12 sacred selections. (Until we get this added
to the web site and shopping cart, please contact us by e-mail or phone about
ordering it.)
-
- C. BOOKS:
- Our 8 books make the Orthodox Faith understandable and
accessible to the thoughtful reader. They include: an expanded new third edition of the
Lives and Icons of 34 (mostly) recently glorified/canonized Orthodox saints, with 38
photos; "The Orthodox Church
and Society: the Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church,"
the authoritative document adopted by the Council of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in
Russia, presenting and supporting the Orthodox Church's position on the many contemporary
ethical issues facing society, both public and personal; a concise study of the theme of
"unity" in Orthodox theology,
architecture, icons, hymns, the Bible and sacraments (mysteries); and a children's Christmas play with carols written by a
gifted child.
-
- D. PAMPHLETS:
- Take advantage of the valuable educational mission opportunity that occurs at weddings,
Baptisms and First Confessions, by teaching about the meaning of Orthodox Holy
Sacraments/Mysteries. Distribute our attractive, inexpensive, 5½ x 8½, single-fold
pamphlet (4-pages), with an icon on the front, that clearly explains the meaning of the
major elements of each of these Sacraments/ Mysteries. These pamphlets are also ideal for
parish education programs for teens and adults.
- The pamphlets are printed on your choice of attractive pink, blue or tan parchment
paper, and are available in convenient and economical packs of 25 for $5.
- NEW (5/3/04) We have
just completed a new pamphlet: The Sacrament of Holy
Confession. It explains what Confession is, why we go to Confession, the
relationship between Confession and Holy Communion, First Confession, and how often we
should go to Confession. This pamphlet is ideal to give out at a child's First Confession,
and is written primarily for this purpose. However it is also useful as an introduction to
preparing anyone of any age for First Confession, as well as to use as an educational
tool for people of all ages, to help them understand more about this greatly misunderstood
sacred Mystery of the Church. For this reason, we are posting the entire text on our web
site. Click here to read the text: The Sacrament of
Holy Confession. Click here to go to the page to order copies of the
pamphlet: (coming soon)
-
- E. ICON CARDS
Beautiful large (4 x 6) all-occasion card, with a lovely icon of St.
Innocent of Alaska, Apostle to America and Metropolitan of Moscow. The icon was
written/painted by Fr. Luke Dingman. It is on extra heavy, glossy card-stock, single-fold,
blank inside. [limited quantities]
-
- F. GIFT CERTIFICATES:
- Do you want to share our wonderful products with someone as a gift, but
aren't sure what the person would like best? Why not give one of our attractive gift
certificates for any amount, with a stunning color
photo of Ascension Cathedral on Unalaska Island, originally built by St. Innocent of
Alaska.
-
- (For a complete overview of all our new items,
-
- For a complete concise list of all our 113 products,
with a
- Print out that page for your convenience.
-
- If you would like a copy of our current catalog (released 3/13/04),
- with all our 113 products listed,
(All of our items are listed and depicted on this web site,
with a separate page for most of our items.)
-
-
On our website we have separate pages for each of our 95
products: 69 videos (with more on the way), 15 audios, 8 books, 2 pamphlets and gift
certificates. To view the pages for these items, click on the category buttons on the
left, at the top, or see the entire list of all 95 items (with hyperlinks to each category
and item page) on our Product List. We are
still working on setting up secure shopping-cart capabilities, so you may safely order
on-line. (We have signed up for it, but are still trying to get it to work.)
In addition to our products, since the purpose of our ST. INNOCENT/ FIREBIRD work is to promote
Orthodox education, and to create materials to do so, we have developed and completed
three series of photo-articles, so that we may offer some educational materials right here
on our web site.
 | (1) The first series of 10 photo-articles is ARTICLES: Saints' Lives, and
includes icons, and photos of where the saints' relics are located, and where they lived
and worked. |
| (2) The second series of 4 photo-articles, ARTICLES: Icons & Relics, includes
a collection of other related articles: (1) What
is Orthodoxy Sunday? (2) Why Icons?
(3) Why Saints? and (4) Why Relics? |
| (3) The third series of 6 photo-articles is about different holy places
and sites of pilgrimage in Russia, including Valaam. (ARTICLES:
Beautiful Russia) |
| (4) NEW In commemoration of the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, 2002,
we are adding a new article, entitled: The
Transfiguration: Old Testament Presence in New Testament Event, to which we have added 9 icons that illustrate
what is being said. |
We intend, when time allows, to add further articles, including new Saints'
Lives articles from time to time, and also to add Beautiful Russia
articles on Irkutsk, Siberia, and other Russian sites, and to start a fourth section on
beautiful places of pilgrimage in Alaska.
In addition to the Photo-Articles, we also offer 3 other sections for
prayer and meditation:
| (1) PRAYERS for
the Journey Along The Way. We now have 9 prayers: #1, Daily Offering Prayer; #2, Thank You; #3,
Your Presence; #4, Holiness; #5, Overcoming Self; #6, Trust; #7,
Security, #8,
Suffering, and #9, Death.
(You may click on the titles of each prayer, to go right to that page.) |
| (2) an extended Meditation on the Holy Spirit,
in the form of a 10-part poem/prayer/meditation on the popular hymn, "O HEAVENLY KING."
|
| (3) and another new page, added after the
atrocities of September 11, 2001, REFLECTIONS
on Love & Hate, Injustice & Truth. These are five short
poem-prayer-meditations, to help remind us about our priorities as Christians, lest we
throw away the Divine Image within us and become like the hate-filled, revengeful people
who perpetrate terrorist atrocities and mass-murder. |
So do keep checking back with us, and please tell others
about our web site.
Keep scrolling down for more information about
our company and web site.
- We are busy creating new videos about the Orthodox Faith
for you. Our next new all-digital ST. INNOCENT/FIREBIRD video
production will be
- the Life of St. Herman
of Alaska,
- the second in our pioneering video series, The
Lives of Orthodox Saints.
-
We also will be
editing shortly a series of 30-minute videos of Archbishop Nathaniel
interviewing the saintly Archimandrite Roman (Braga), of Dormition Monastery
in Rives Junction, Michigan. These will be ideal for use during Great Lent and
for general adult education.
- Please add us to your "Favorites" list, and
check back with us
- as we continue to add both new products and new
articles.
- If you wish to take a moment to give us your comments and
reactions,
- we would appreciate it. Thank you.
- May the Lord and His holy angels bless, guard and protect
you.
-
- ST. INNOCENT/FIREBIRD is a
Michigan non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in June 1988, (originally with the name
of RUSSIAN TREASURES, INC.), whose
purpose is to produce educational and religious materials for public education.
In 1992 FIREBIRD began producing videos, audios and books.
| In the Fall of 1992, in FIREBIRD's
first catalog, 6 items were released. |
| By 1999, in FIREBIRD's seventh
catalog, the number of items increased to 51: 30 videos, 13 audios, 6 books and 2
pamphlets. |
| After releasing an additional 29 items in March-October of 2001, 80 items were offered:
53 videos, 16 audios, 8 books, 2 pamphlets and gift certificates. |
| In December of 2002, 92 items are available: 65 videos, 15 audios, 8 books, 2 pamphlets,
1 icon card and gift certificates, with more videos being prepared for release soon. Our
92 items include some videos made in Russia, which are being distributed as a service to
our customers and to raise funds, to enable ST.
INNOCENT/ FIREBIRD to expand its primary work of producing English
educational videos about Orthodoxy. |
At long last, the Lord has blessed us by being able to upgrade our video camera and
editing equipment to a state-of-the art digital system, so that we now can create even
better quality videos for you. Our new releases, especially the pioneering video, Life of St. Innocent of Alaska
(which is our masterpiece), and Orthodoxy
in Siberia: Elevation of the Holy Cross Feast Day, show the high quality
that will characterize all our future video productions. This digital editing system also
now allows us to make English voice-overs of some of the many outstanding videos being
made in Russia about the Orthodox Faith and Church life today. Nine of these voice-overs
have been completed or are almost completed, with more translations being worked on now,
with our bishop's express blessing and encouragement. (See our What's
New section for information about all these new videos.)
In 1991 and 1995 FIREBIRD also organized and conducted "art and religion"
pilgrimage-tours of Russia, and might possibly conduct another pilgrimage to encounter the
icons and holy places of Russia (the Golden Ring and St. Petersburg) in 2004.
ST. INNOCENT/FIREBIRD is guided
by a Board of Trustees --- with both active and honorary/advisory members --- comprised of
bishops, priests and professional lay people of diverse backgrounds. The head
bishops/ metropolitans of many ethnic jurisdictions of the Orthodox Church in North
America have given their blessings and endorsement to our work, especially for the two new
video series that we have begun for Orthodox education: The Lives of Orthodox
Saints and The World of Orthodoxy.
Our name is derived from one of the most popular of all Russian folk tales - the firebird. The story is about a simple and
humble maiden whose embroidery work was the most beautiful in all the world. She
rejected all offers of riches and glory for her handiwork. One day a wicked sorcerer
came to the maiden, disguised as a handsome youth, trying to lure her away with promises
of untold wealth and marvels, to embroider for him alone. When she refused, he
turned her into a firebird, and,
turning himself into a falcon, carried her away. But the maiden wanted to leave
something of beauty behind, and so, as she died in the falcon's claws, she shed all of her
magnificent feathers, which floated down to the earth. However, they were no
ordinary feathers, but magical ones, which only those
who love beauty, and who seek to make beauty for others, can see and admire.
ST. INNOCENT/FIREBIRD Videos, Audios & Books
is dedicated to making beauty for others, and to making known the profound beauty that
exists in the Orthodox Church: in all aspects of the unsurpassed splendor of her Divine
Worship and wealth of her prayers; her icons, music, architecture and other sacred arts;
and the beauty of holiness found in the lives of her saints, and in the spiritual depths
of the Orthodox Faith.
The purposes of adding the name ST.
INNOCENT to our previous FIREBIRD
name, which we have used since 1992, are to reflect:
| (1) that our work is the major part of the educational ministry of the St.
Innocent Orthodox Religious (Monastic)
Community;
|
| (2) our association with St.
Innocent (of Irkutsk) Orthodox Church in Redford, Michigan, in metro-Detroit.
(Click on the hyperlink to view the church's web page on this site);
|
| (3) the Orthodox basis of our educational ministry;
|
| (4) and our devotion to both St. Innocent, Bishop of Irkutsk, and
to St. Innocent of Alaska, Apostle to America and Metropolitan of Moscow.
|
Since August 1, 2001, we have been hosting the web site of St. Innocent Orthodox Church in
Redford, Michigan, here on this website. It contains numerous photos of the icons that
cover the walls, and explains, "Who is St. Innocent?" Please click on the
hyperlink and check it out.
- Telephone:
- 313-535-9080
- FAX:
- 313-535-9080 (Call first)
- Postal address:
- ST. INNOCENT RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
- 9452 Hazelton, Redford, MI 48239-1138, USA
- E-mail:
- info@firebirdvideos.com
- Contact person:
-
SISTER IOANNA
- Executive Director:
- Dr. Jane M. deVyver, M.A., M.Th., Ph.D.
-
-
- IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PRINTED COPY OF OUR
CURRENT CATALOG,
WITH ALL OF OUR 113+
ITEMS DESCRIBED,
- PLUS OUR 7 VIDEOS AND 4 BOOKS ON SALE,
- AND WE WILL MAIL A FREE COPY TO YOU IMMEDIATELY.
|
ST. INNOCENT/
