Orthodox Book Discussion

There is so much to learn about the crucifixion of Christ!!!. The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are central events in our salvation. Yet few Christians have a good grasp of the first-century historical and religious context in which the Crucifixion took place, nor of its true significance for the people of that time—and hence for our time as well. Biblical scholar Dr. Jeannie Constantinou puts modern readers in the center of the events of Christ's Passion, bringing the best of modern scholarship to bear while keeping her interpretation faithful in every particular to the Orthodox Tradition.

It is strongly encouraged to discuss spiritual material with your spiritual father, father confessor or spiritual mother.  The book is available in the church library and bookstore.

 

Orthodox Christian Book Discussion

Excerpt from Christos Yannaras: The author of this book, Maxim Vasiljevic, bishop of Los Angeles, does not write to teach or to make known opinions, views, acquired information, or wise conclusions from the study of wise texts bequeathed to us by the Fathers of the Church. The aim and purpose of the writing here is to …invite (the reader) to touch the empirical truth of the Church and to make him a participant in these empirical (truths). 

I would dare to say the "logic" of this book is to transmit experience and not just understanding.”

 

Sampling from the Table Contents

The Flame of Our Lady’s Hair

An Athonite Elder’s Theology of    Surprise

Repetition of Sin and Innovation of the Spirit

Seeing the Invisible

 

The Way and Chinese Christianity

Culture, Politics, and the Consolation of Theology

Dostoevsky as a Messenger of Life

Hagia Sophia’s Uninterrupted Liturgy

The book is available in the church bookstore and library. Please note:  It is strongly encouraged to discuss spiritual material with your spiritual father, father confessor or spiritual mother. Visit: https://hocalibrary.blogspot.com/.

 

Orthodox Book Discussion

Restoring the  Inner Heart: The Nous in Dostoevsky’s Ridiculous Man  By  Mary Naumenko

Excerpt: What is the nous? It is the God-given organ implanted deeply within (our heart) that is very receptive to the true reality of things. It is often referred to by the early Christian fathers as the “eye of the soul.”

From the Bookseller:

Written close to the end of the great writer’s life, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story The Dream of a Ridiculous Man tells of a transformation of the heart and a journey from despair to joy: a joy that can be known by all through the experience of God that transcends a simply rational discourse. The spiritual metamorphosis of the title character is examined in depth in light of the ancient concept of Nous as it developed from the Greek philosophers to the Christian fathers. By comparing the “Ridiculous Man” to similar characters in Dostoevsky’s writings (e.g., the Brothers Karamozov), the author shows how an Orthodox Christian understanding of the Nous underpins Dostoevsky’s writings in turn guides the reader toward a truer vision of humanity.

The book is available in the church bookstore and library. Please note:  It is strongly encouraged to discuss spiritual material with your spiritual father, father confessor or spiritual mother. Visit: https://hocalibrary.blogspot.com/.

 

 

 

 

 The Prayer of a Broken Heart

by Father Paul Abernathy

 

What do African American spirituality and Orthodox Christianity have in common? More than you might think. Drawing on both his own background as a biracial convert to Orthodoxy and historical resources that span St. Athanasius to Frederick Douglass, Fr. Paul Abernathy details the many intersections between these two traditions, including a redemptive understanding of the Cross and a faith shaped by suffering and persecution. In so doing, he points to a new path whereby Orthodox Christianity can uniquely answer the spiritual needs of African Americans.

About the Author: Fr. Paul Abernathy is an African American Orthodox Christian priest and founding pastor of St. Moses the Black Orthodox Church in the Hill District, a predominantly Black neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the founder and CEO of the Neighborhood Resilience Project, an Orthodox Christian nonprofit focusing on building resilient, healing, and healthy communities through Trauma Informed Community Development. He is a nationally renowned speaker whose work has been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, BBC, Ard (German) TV, and NPR. Fr. Paul is a U.S. Army Iraq War veteran and holds master’s degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.

The book is available in the church bookstore and library. Please note:  It is strongly encouraged to discuss spiritual material with your spiritual father, father confessor or spiritual mother. Visit: https://hocalibrary.blogspot.com/

Book Discussion (Date TBA) Dialogues with Patriarch Athenagoras

 

From the Foreword by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros

Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras is one of those rare hierarchs who has shaped profoundly and permanently the destiny of world Orthodoxy. Throughout the twentieth century, from his ministry on Kerkyra (Corfu), in America, and ultimately as Ecumenical Patriarch, his initiatives and determination to serve the most vulnerable as a fundamental expression of our Christian faith, have proved an inspiration for many Christians, regardless of denomination or confession, over many generations. Fifty years after his repose, Orthodox Christianity sill lives into his vision. 

The translation of these unique Dialogues with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras  was long overdue. I am particulary happy that this publication is taking place during the centennial celebration of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. In deed, before his election to the See of the Mother church of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras presided over vital developments of Orthodoxy in America for over a decade, profoundly shaping the identity and nature of our presence in this country. 

July 14, 2002 7:00 PM Book Discussion: Hymn of Entry Family Life Center

 

By  Archimandrite Vasileios

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Theology, as seen by Archimandrite Vasileios, is by its very essence liturgical; it is not a philosophy or a system but the expression of the church's mystical life:

"The first Christians lived their theology totally and with the whole of their bodies, just as they are baptized with the whole of their body and soul into the new life ... Thus their liturgical gatherings were an initiation into the mystery of theology ... The mystery of theology was celebrated in their lives, and they attained to the knowledge which is eternal life."

Bishop Kallistos (Ware) states in his foreword:

[Hymn of Entry] offers nothing less than a fresh vision of theology, the church and the world, a vision that is both original and yet genuinely traditional. The quality that characterizes this remarkable book is above all a sense of wholeness. The unity of the divine and human in the incarnate Christ, the unity of heaven and earth in the Divine Liturgy, the unity between theology and spirituality, between theology and life - such are the author's master-themes. 

About the Author: Archimandrite Vasileios is the Abbot of Stavronikita Monastery on Mount Athos. He is regarded as the pioneer of the movement which led to the modern revival of monasticism on the Holy Mountain.

 

The Book Discussion will be held at the Family Life Center 7:00 PM July 14, 2022. The book is available in the church bookstore and library. Please note:  It is strongly encouraged to discuss spiritual material with your spiritual father, father confessor or spiritual mother. 

First Fruits of Prayer: A Forty Day Journey Through the Canon of St. Andrew

By Frederica Mathews-Green

Each Wednesday during Lent the church community met at the Family Life Center after the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts for a Lenten pot-luck dinner. Following dinner, Father Christos lead a discussion of a few chapters of First Fruits of Prayer: A Forty Day Journey Through the Canon of St. Andrew.

Adapted from the introduction: The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is a prayerful hymn of epic length, which is offered in a Lenten worship service every year in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was written by the 8^th century St. Andrew, a leading figure of early Christian hymnography. St. Andrew built up his Canon while taking to heart lessons from Scripture urging him to love God more completely. The work is very personal and may have been written for his own personal use. But it was taken up broadly and used every Lent in the Eastern Church. Through rigorous self-examination, St. Andrew shows us a path to repentance. The book is arranged into 40 readings, one for each day of Lent. Each reading is accompanied by commentary and suggested meditations. The Appendix includes the Life of St. Mary of Egypt, Lenten intercessor. 

The commentrary by Mathews-Green is very helpful.  The book is available in the church bookstore and library. Please note:  It is strongly encouraged to discuss spiritual material with your spiritual father, father confessor or spiritual mother.