On Easter morning in 1993, the bells of Optina Pustyn rang out across the monastery grounds in Russia. Within hours, three Orthodox monks would be dead.

Hieromonk Vasily, Monk Trophim, and Monk Ferapont were attacked during one of the holiest days of the Christian year, leaving behind a case that would quickly become known throughout the Orthodox world.

In this episode, we return to Optina Pustyn to follow the events of that morning, the investigation that followed, the man accused of the killings, and the lives of the three monks whose deaths are still remembered today.

• Hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov) — born Igor Ivanovich Roslyakov (Игорь Иванович Росляков).
• Monk Trophim (Tatarnikov) — born Leonid Ivanovich Tatarnikov (Леонид Иванович Татарников).
• Monk Ferapont (Pushkarev) — born Vladimir Leonidovich Pushkarev (Владимир Леонидович

1. Easter Morning at Optina Monastery
2. The Monastery’s Return After Soviet Rule
3. The Attack Begins in the Bell Tower
4. Father Vasily’s Life and Final Hours
5. Trophim’s Story of Service and Faith
6. Ferapont’s Journey from Darkness to Repentance
7. The Murderer’s Escape and Arrest
8. The Investigation and Motive Behind the Attack
9. Remembering the Martyrs of Optina
10. A Final Reflection on Resurrection and Hope

A pagan spring, a desperate father, and an archangel who changes everything. This is the story of how one miracle turned a place of fear into a Christian sanctuary.

If you’re drawn to Christian history, martyrdom, miracles, and the forgotten stories that shaped the faith, this episode of Mysteries of Christendom will pull you straight into the heart of a legend that has endured for centuries.

Leyla tells the dramatic account of the spring at Phrygia, where a father brings his daughter who cannot speak, receives a vision from Archangel Michael, and witnesses a healing that sparks an unexpected wave of conversion.

You’ll discover:

• Why the spring was once feared as a site of pagan power
• How the healing of a silent child becomes the turning point in the story
• Why Archippus dedicates his life to serving the church built beside the spring
• The violent plan the pagan priests devise to erase the Christian community
• How Archangel Michael is said to stop a catastrophic flood in a single miraculous moment

Leyla also explains why the Orthodox Church still commemorates this event every year on September 6th.

This is more than a tale of ancient conflict. It’s a story about fear meeting mercy, a church refusing to be erased, and a saintly witness that still speaks to believers today.

Perfect for anyone who loves Orthodox tradition, supernatural history, and the kinds of stories that reveal how faith survives when everything around it seems determined to destroy it.

On an April night in 1968, two men outside a church in Zeitoun, Egypt, noticed a woman standing high above the street.

Believing she was in danger, they called for help. But when others looked up, they saw something they could not explain.

Over the years that followed, enormous crowds gathered beneath the Church of Saint Mary, hoping to witness the mysterious figure for themselves.

Christians and Muslims alike reported seeing a luminous woman moving above the domes, sometimes surrounded by lights and white doves. Many believed they were witnessing the Virgin Mary.

In the first episode of Mysteries of Christendom, we return to the crowded streets of Zeitoun and investigate one of the most widely witnessed Marian apparitions of the modern era.

From ancient monasteries and forgotten churches to saints, miracles, sacred icons, martyrs, and mysteries that have endured for centuries, Mysteries of Christendom explores the extraordinary stories preserved throughout Orthodox Christianity.

Through immersive storytelling and historical investigation, each episode takes you back to where these stories began.

Welcome to Mysteries of Christendom.