Frequently Asked Questions

General

  • Chotki is the Russian name for prayer rope. A prayer rope is a tool we use to help us pray. So when we were trying to think of a name that focused on Orthodox Christian family resources and tools, we came up with Family Chotki for a business name as are focused on creating tools that help all members of your Orthodox Christian family.

  • Yes! Please visit our Wholesale page to learn more.

  • Yes! We do ship orders outside the United States.

    Please visit our International Orders page for more details.

  • Yes! Please visit our Wholesale page to learn more.

  • First, we plan to complete all the Great Feasts Study Journals. We also want to create and sell consumable workbooks that can accompany the Study Journals for certain age groups to provide further engagement with the content. We also want to further develop other resources to help Orthodox Christian families with fortifying their family home.

    What does your Orthodox Christian family need? Write to us at familychotki@gmail.com and give us some feedback on how we can help you fortify your family church.

Great Feast Study Journals

  • With sections covering overview, context, icon theology, significance, application, and lessons, this journal provides a comprehensive journey through the feast. Immerse yourself in the beauty of Orthodox Christian tradition, renew your Christian spirit, and discover the timeless wisdom and ineffable glory found in each of our Great Feast Days. Whether you’re a seasoned Orthodox Christian or new to the faith, the Study Journals are an invaluable resource that will inspire, enlighten, and guide you to grow in your spiritual life. Learn more on our Study Journals page.

  • Every year, we set time aside in our busy schedules, prepare to take communion and attend the festal services. These are all bare minimum requirements for all Orthodox Christians. While many of us associate the Great Feasts with certain traditions, hymns, or foods, we often maintain a shallow understanding of their spiritual reality. How can this be? How many of us truly celebrate these feasts with a spiritual appetite? How many of us find the spiritual nourishment from these feasts that helps lift us up in our day-to-day struggle? How many of us truly understand the depths of what these blessed feasts offer us? How many of us leave the festal service brimming with spiritual joy? These feasts are so powerful that they can transform our spiritual state and yet we maintain the most basic understanding of these feasts. We are missing something!

    We created the Study Journals to help begin to fill this gap in understanding the spiritual depths of the Great Feasts and help our hearts stay warm and ignited with the Word of God throughout the year.

  • When you study the Orthodox faith through the Great Feasts with our Study Journals, you will discover everything you need for a solid foundation of catechesis. This reinforces your knowledge and helps you live out your faith more fully. Year after year, the Great Feasts will always ground you and bring you back to the Light and the Truth through this form of catechism study. The Great Feasts will bind you to your faith in a way that becomes your own pattern of living and breathing.

  • The brain map is actually a feature that your either love it or hate it. For some customers it’s confusing and makes no sense. For others it speaks to them in a very visual way.

    The brain map helps different types of learners to see the bigger picture of the feast in a different way. We talk a lot about diving deep deep and getting curious and the Brain Map helps us visually see where we are headed. We also love to use the Brain Map as a sort of litmus test. Instead of a traditional quiz or test to see what you already know about the Great Feasts, try and create a Brain Map to see what connects to each Great Feast for you. It shows that there is so much going with each Great Feast and how much we have yet to learn as Orthodox Christians.

    1. Mother of God Shows Us the Way (Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple)

    2. Putting on Christ (Baptism of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ)

    3. Climbing Your Mt. Tabor (Transfiguration)

    4. Rekindling the Fire in Your Heart (Pentecost)

    5. Seeking a Christian Ending to Your Life (Dormition)

  • We did not set out with a specific age in mind for the Study Journals as there is content for every family member so here is a list of ideas of how to use the Study Journals with different age groups in mind.

    Ages 0-12: This age group will most likely need an adult to read through the content to discuss and help define words. When used in a family read-out loud context, the Study Journal is best for this age group. For younger children, there are free Activity Pages to keep them occupied while older children discuss prompts and questions from the study Journal.

    Ages 13-18: This is an age where you can hand over the Study Journal for independent study our assigned study in homeschool. This is a great age for encouraging children to take ownership of their faith with the support parents to keep guiding and the Study Journals encourage this type of ownership with the questions and prompts.

    Ages 19+: As adults, it is important to keep growing in the faith and fortifying the foundations of your understanding of the the faith. The Study Journals can be used as a refresher course to help adults get re-centered in what the Orthodox faith teaches and to not only learn but practice the faith through the Great Feasts.

    Here is feedback from a customer on how they use the Study Journals in their family setting: The smallest ones can listen to us read them aloud, but they are interesting even for the adults. I learn new things and I've been a priest's wife for 20 years!

  • Our Study Journals uniquely combine art and document design with theology in an exciting visual educational journey within the context of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church. Although each Study Journal revolves around a specific Great Feast, the lessons, themes and subthemes are applicable throughout the year. We pair our text with interactive conversational questions and activities to engage curious readers and interest all ages to dive deeper into their Orthodox Christian faith. Learn more on our Study Journal page.

  • Our Study Journals will be offered in the following 2 formats:

    Paperback book & Family Use License digital pdf.

    We also sell paperback Study Journals in a 4-pack value set that you can customize yourself.

  • We provide the option to purchase the Study Journal in a digital format under (pdf) a Family Use License. This digital product you purchase from Family Chotki is owned and licensed by Family Chotki. The Study Journal is instantly sent after payment is received.

    A Family Use License allows you to use the file just for you and your immediate family’s needs and is non-transferable. You are allowed to print hard copies just for your family needs.

    Thank you for honoring our Copyright Policy. It enables us to continue to offer you the speedy delivery of products with the ease of digital download (without the annoying encryption password coded documents that are common today).

    Orthodox Christians tend to be among the most ethical customers in the world of business and we thank you for that high standard of behavior.Item description

  • Yes! Please visit our Wholesale page to learn more.

OCB System

  • Orthodox Commonplace Book

    This idea was inspired by Fr. Seraphim Rose:

    “Do  you have a notebook for taking down quotes from Holy Fathers in your reading? Do you always have a book of Holy Fathers that you are reading, and can turn to in a moment of gloom? Start now - this is essential.”

    ~Fr. Seraphim Rose to Fr. Alexei Young in Letters from Fr. Seraphim, pg. 143

    Definition of Commonplace Book:

    A book in which noteworthy quotations, passages, poems, comments, reflections, speeches etc., are written. It can also include the individual's own thoughts, reflections, and insights, such as annotations, commentary, and connections.

  • These kits are designed with middle and high schoolers in mind as well as adults and parents who want to start this habit. Middle school-aged children may benefit from guidance and support from a parent or older sibling. Adults will find the process of keeping an OCB very beneficial. We even recommend parents get their own kit to try this habit out themselves. It is edifying!

    All Guides and the Guide Book are written at a middle school level and encourage an independent ownership of this habit.

    Our stickers can be a bit tricky to peel, so small hands may struggle. We do include hacks and ideas to make stickers more usable for small hands in the back of the Guide Book in the Kit. Buying sticker sheets individually is a geat way to include younger kids in this habit, though they will need support.

  • No. They are for dry use only. Our stickers are printed on matte clear sticker paper in order to easily blend into your layouts.

  • No. They are illustrations intended for educational purposes to help with learning abut the Orthodox Christian Faith. The stickers are an extension of our Study Journals: illustrations created to help visual learners and create beauty in our personal OCBs.

  • They are highly recommended and will streamline your experience. We want to say, yes, they are required; however, you can navigate without them with extra research and resources. It just is not the same experience we set up; however, we also want the OCB System to be adaptable to your needs too.

    Our digital Great Feast OCB Guides refer to specific page numbers in the Study Journals. Working with the Study Journal with the digital Guide help you dig deeply into spiritual literature to learn what to add to your OCB and learn to make it your own. It is also a great way to further engage with our Study Journals which have so much content to absorb. We sell both physical and digital Study Journals.

  • We recommend you provide:

Stickers

  • No. They are for dry use only. Our stickers are printed on matte clear sticker paper in order to easily blend into your layouts.

  • No. They are illustrations intended for educational purposes to help with learning abut the Orthodox Christian faith. The stickers are an extension of our Study Journals: illustrations created to help visual learners and create beauty in our personal OCBs.

  • Our stickers are designed to blend seamlessly into your layouts, but they can be a bit tricky to peel off the sheet. Here are some tips to help:

    • Go slow: Peel the stickers slowly and gently.

    • Use sticky tape: For die-cut stickers (single, no sticker sheet), attach some sticky tape to the backing of the sticker. This can help get the peel started.

    • For parents: To help younger children peel stickers off sheets more easily, place Scotch tape on the front of the sticker sheet where there are no cutouts (like an upper corner). Then carefully peel the negative space around the stickers. This method requires some patience but can be effective in helping younger children work more independently on their OCB Kits.

    Remember, the key is to be patient and gentle when peeling the stickers to avoid tearing or damaging them.