In a world increasingly distracted, fragmented, and uncertain of truth, Living as a Christian in a World That Rejects God offers a return to the heart — to the still place within where faith becomes life and prayer becomes breath.

Drawn from a series of conversations between Archimandrite Roman Braga and his spiritual child Mary Brown at the Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery in Michigan, this book distills decades of spiritual wisdom into enlightening, living words. Speaking with the simplicity that only comes from great depth, Fr. Roman invites us to rediscover what it means to be a Christian — not as a cultural label or a set of external practices, but as a personal communion with God in the midst of a fallen and often hostile world.

“Each person,” he said, “is an entire universe.” In these pages, Fr. Roman shares from his own profound experience — from the silence of monastic prayer to the darkness of communist prisons where he discovered that even suffering can become a school of divine love. Having endured unimaginable persecution for his faith, he speaks not of bitterness but of joy: the joy that comes from belonging wholly to God. “Why should we be sad,” he would say, “when the Lord loves us so much that He cannot take His eyes off us?”

Structured in three parts, the book first explores the Fundamental Understandings of Christian life: who we are as human beings created in God’s image, our relationship with the Creator, and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. The second section, Growing in the Image of God, examines how we live this reality through the life of the Church — the sacraments, prayer, fasting, Scripture, and love of neighbor. The final section, Family Life in Christ, brings the same radiant wisdom to the home, showing that the family, too, is a small church where salvation unfolds daily through love, forgiveness, and prayer.

Father Roman’s words are not theoretical. They are born of lived experience — from hidden monastic cells, from the suffering of prison, from the gentle pastoral guidance of a confessor who listened deeply to human hearts. His teaching flows naturally from the life of the Church and the mystery of divine grace. Whether he is speaking of raising children, cultivating humility, or discovering joy in suffering, his message is constant: God is near, and holiness is possible, even here, even now.

Published by the Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery, this new volume continues the legacy of Fr. Roman’s earlier works, Exploring the Inner Universe and On the Way of Faith. Together they form a trilogy of modern spiritual classics — a wellspring of hope and wisdom for anyone seeking to live as a Christian in the world today.