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.