Reading for 28 November 2010

On 28 November, we'll be discussing Chapters 4-5 of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you do not have your own copy of the book, you can find our reading assignment here.

We celebrate one of my favorite saints here on November 30, the Apostle Andrew. And, generally, even pious Christians in America do not know much of the story of these men beyond what we find in scripture. Sure, we all know something of the life of St. Paul, who features prominently in the Book of Acts, but even then we don't know what happened to him after that book concludes. You might like The Lives of the Holy Apostles: Saints Peter, Paul, Andrew, James ... from the Menology of St. Dimitri of Rostov in Russian and the Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church in greek, which gives extensive lives of these holy men after the Ascension of our Lord. 

Reading for 21 November 2010

For November 21, we'll be reading from Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you don't have a copy otherwise available for you, you can get a copy here of Chapter Two: On the Insufficiency of Human Strength.

Tomorrow (15 November) begins the Nativity Fast, aka Advent, St. Philip's Fast, or St. Martin's Fast. Here's a great book of meditations for the season by one of my favorite modern, Orthodox writers: The Winter Pascha: Readings for the Christmas-Epiphany Season, by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

November 21 is the feast of The Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. There is a richness of theology made available to us for this feast, and I hope that everyone will try to delve into it. A great reference for the feasts of the Mother of God in general is The Life of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, which is mostly an attempt to highlight some of the more interesting passages from the feasts. I highly recommend it.

Reading for 14 November 2010

Today we begin our reading of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. This is a GREAT book that you should really consider buying, but if you haven't yet or can't, take a look here at Chapter One: On a Resolute and Steadfast Purpose.