Veiled in the smoke of incense, the Eastern Orthodox Church has long been an enigma to the Western world. Yet, as Frederica Mathewes-Green discovered, Orthodoxy is a vital and living faith, rich in ritual beauty and steadfast integrity. Facing East is a one-year chronicle of a life lived in this faith. Among icons and unfamiliar sacraments, the stately rituals and prayers, Mathewes-Green weaves a beautiful, moving, and funny portrait of her own experience as a cautious convert. Through her own compelling story, and that of her family, Mathewes-Green revels the human face of a millenia-old tradition, eloquently illustrating the joys and blessings an ancient faith can bring to the worshipers of today.