To most of his parishioners of Holy Trinity Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church, in a down-at-heel section of St. Louis, Rev. Sophrony Balaban, with his neat black beard, his hefty frame, his genial smile, seemed a fine figure of a man. Twirling a big walking stick, Father Balaban made a point of circulating in his parish to collect contributions for the church, often turned up at night in Serbian haunts, where he smoked and drank as heartily as anyone. A onetime coal miner in Indiana, ordained a priest after attending a Russian seminary in...
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