book recommendations

[BabyLutheran]

I am interested in learning more about the lives of some of the early saints of the church. Can you guys give me some recommendations of books I might enjoy?

Thanks

Mike

PS. I am still trying to figure out how to get my own little person with armor, etc to appear on my posts. I have gone to the section and purchased some items, but some of the things I bought have disappeared, and I didn't get my blessings back when this has happened. I do have a few items still, but what do I do to complete it?

[Akathist]

I sent you a pm with instructions for the character.

As a mod, I don't see the characters much as they interfere with our innerface and make it hard to do some of our staff actions, but I left them showing for a little while to see what you create.

[Akathist]

About books, you said "early saints" and to be honest, I haven't found books on the early saints much...

but I loved reading books on these saints: "St. Nectarious of Aegina" and "Fr. Arseny".... but they were books from the church library so I don't have the titles and purchase info handy.

[Akathist]

Well, this is very interesting, for a couple minutes your character was standing there in his underware, then he changed his clothes a few times. It has been quiet a show!

I do like him though, congratulations.

[BabyLutheran]

seems like it costs a little bit to return stuff, so I am now bald and without shoes. Oh well, at least I am not in underwear

[BabyLutheran]

also, now that I think about it, I don't mind how long ago the saints were. I just want to read about saints to get some encouragement and ideas of what they had to go through for the faith. We are so insulated from that in USA. I remember the Father at the local Antiochian church mentioning the first Orthodox monks who located in the Sinai somewhere. That would be interesting to read about as well.

[gzt]

St. Athanasius' "The Life of St. Anthony" might be the sort of thing you're looking for. The Synaxarion or Prologue will have a short life for a saint for every day, though often it is only an account of their martyrdom if they were a martyr and it can be costly. The Venerable Bede did a martyrology, I don't know if it's conveniently available cheaply in English. One can find "The Lives of the Desert Fathers" translated by Benedicta Ward.

These aren't quite what you're looking for, but they might be interesting and are along the same lines."The Sayings of the Desert Fathers" don't really give an entire "life" of the saints they discuss, but they do talk about some of the things they did. You might also like [St.?] John Moschos's "The Spiritual Meadow", which is a 6th [?] century traveller's account of his visits to Palestinian and Egyptian monasteries. Again, this doesn't give a complete "life" of the people he encounters, but it gives a good picture of the way of life at those monasteries and accounts of some of the deeds of the monks.

[icxn]

also, now that I think about it, I don't mind how long ago the saints were. I just want to read about saints to get some encouragement and ideas of what they had to go through for the faith. We are so insulated from that in USA. I remember the Father at the local Antiochian church mentioning the first Orthodox monks who located in the Sinai somewhere. That would be interesting to read about as well.

Here's a good collection of stories about Sinai monks: http://sgpm.goarch.org/Monastery/index.php?p=12

For other Saints see also:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/collection/online_lives/?CPSESSION=6917bf8a413b0620ae010d92fb641a98

icxn

[icxn]

... You might also like [St.?] John Moschos's "The Spiritual Meadow", which is a 6th [?] century traveller's account of his visits to Palestinian and Egyptian monasteries...
Something similar to that is Palladius' Lausiac History which you can read here:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/palladius-lausiac.html

-EDIT-

Here's a better link with more stories:

http://www.touregypt.net/documents/lausiacindex.htm

I like this one (http://www.touregypt.net/documents/lausiac5.htm#Chapter%20XXVIII) :)

icxn

[BabyLutheran]

The last link in the previous post was to the story of Paul the Simple and it was awesome!

[ufonium2]

I think it's good to read some more modern saints, as well. It's good to remember that the Church is alive, and that Orthodoxy isn't some "Museum of First Millenium Christiany."

[gzt]

For modern stuff, I really like Father Arseny.

[Maximus]

This is not a book, and it is not a life of any of the early saints, but it is good.

I am talking about The Early Church Fathers (http://www.light-n-life.com/shopping/order_product.asp?ProductNum=EARL200) on CD-ROM.

It does not have everything that I would want, but it does have most of it and a handy search feature.

[MrJim]

This is not a book, and it is not a life of any of the early saints, but it is good.

I am talking about The Early Church Fathers (http://www.light-n-life.com/shopping/order_product.asp?ProductNum=EARL200) on CD-ROM.

It does not have everything that I would want, but it does have most of it and a handy search feature.

I just picked up vol. 1 at the local Christian Library (nobody checks them out so they're always available). Gotta have books-haven't adjusted to reading off screen for long periods of time (and since it's not a laptop I'd have to stop for potty breaks:doh: ).

[Anhelyna]

Gotta have books-haven't adjusted to reading off screen for long periods of time (and since it's not a laptop I'd have to stop for potty breaks ).

That's what the pause button is for :D - Trust me :D

you can use it for coffee breaks too :D

[AlaskaFan]

One of my favorite books on Orthodoxy is Mountain of Silence by Kyriacos Markides. He just published a sequel to this called Gifts of the Desert. I just ordered it.