Melissa C.

Deeper Understanding

Revisado: 10-14-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

In the introduction the author states, “I wrote this book to help readers understand what they should be doing and thinking while the Divine Liturgy is being offered and to assist them in praying the Liturgy.”
You can tell this is the focus of this book as he carefully reviews each portion of the liturgy, discussing the relevant scriptures, as well as excerpts of the Church fathers. Most of us in North America find the Divine Liturgy to be foreign and awkward when beginning to attend an Orthodox Church especially if you are coming from a Protestant denomination. In those types of churches, the worship is shaped by what appeals to the attendees and what the organizers believe that the attendees will enjoy and make them comfortable. Obviously, the Divine Liturgy is totally different. But especially for new converts or inquirers, this difference makes it extremely difficult to feel connected to the worship. Having liturgy books available for attendees to follow along helps, but I know I still felt disconnected not understanding exactly why we were doing things in the service. Adding to this feeling, the names of the songs and the stages of the worship were all very foreign(literally, lol).
I found this book very helpful. I can now fully appreciate the Divine Liturgy and participate in a more reverent way. I knew that the Orthodox Church was established by the Fathers and I have seen time and time again that we can trust that everything we do is done in line with the original one true Church. However, knowing it and having a more full understanding of how to participate in it, are two totally different things. I have found lots of writings on ‘orthodoxy’ ,as in the correct understanding or belief, but I struggled finding resources for ‘orthopraxy’ or correct practice. This book is a good blend of both, in a very practical way.
Lastly, sola-scriptura is mentioned in the introduction of the book. If you live in the United States you will hear this term over and over from non-orthodox Christians when discussing worship. Even though we would disagree with this approach, the scriptural references in this book will be helpful when discussing Orthodox Worship with our current American Protestant culture. There is no trust in any Church tradition with the fear that it could be manipulated if there is no direct reference to scripture. This book makes it very easy to connect each and every part of the Divine Liturgy to Bible scripture. I highly recommend this book. If you are new to Orthodoxy, it will help you worship during the Divine Liturgy with a new depth and understanding; if you are not, it will help you to relate our worship in a way non-Orthodox can better understand.

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Helpful Insights

Revisado: 10-28-22 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I listened to this book as audio and I very much enjoyed it. Sarah has a very soft spoken and comforting voice. I do wish I could see some of the guide book section at the end, but listening to it is still effective.
Death and grief are a difficult topic to deal with. No one grieves the same way and the culture we live in is oftentimes not helpful with the way we try to remove ourselves from death. I appreciate how Sarah shares not only her professional expertise, but also her personal stories as a teen dealing with the death of family and friends and how this began her experience with grief. I had several deaths in my family as a child, but nothing could have prepared me for the suicide of my 17 year old brother when I was 21 years old. I had just graduated nursing school and was in orientation for the labor and delivery unit. Ironically, I attended an 8 hour class on bereavement on the same day he died. I know that having that class that day was a gift from God. My mom was not good, emotionally, for 2-3 years after my brother died. I would have not had any idea about grief at all had the Lord not put me in that class.
Now as a catechumen who has lost 2 grandparents in the last year and can still feel a stinging sensation in my chest every time I see an old lady in the grocery store or see the right kind of car on the highway, I found this book extremely helpful. Tying death to our salvation and the cross brings a peace to the hurting. Sarah does a great job of pointing out the unique connection that Orthodox Christians have with the dead. The routine practice that we have of praying for our deceased loved ones is one of the reasons that I was drawn to the Orthodox Church. Sarah covers this as well as the funeral services and the deep meanings that are oftentimes missed if we are not aware.
In the last part of the book where she includes the bereavement group guide, she gives practical information and then challenges the readers with a few simple tasks based on the information, to aid in their grieving process. Even if there is no formal bereavement group in your parish, we all are at some stage of grieving or know someone close to us who is. As we move into the holidays, I am going to be working through the guide again myself and will be sharing some of these things with my family.

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A glimpse through the eyes of a priest

Revisado: 06-08-22 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I loved this compilation of short stories. Father Stephen is a fantastic storyteller. I felt as though I knew each character personally. Each emotion that they felt, every visual they saw, every situation they experienced, I was there in my mind. It is easy as a Christian to become disenchanted with the Church because it is made up of broken people. Broken people sin, and hurt one another. But Secret Turning helps us to see the real life needs of our fellow man. We all have secret places in our hearts that we only let a few select people know about and we all carry around untold burdens and pains. Even though I have no idea what it is like to live in the parts of our country and the world where these stories take place, I can relate to the humanness of the characters. Thank you Fr. Stephen sharing with us your loving perspective. I can only hope that my brothers and sisters in Christ are able to see my own lumps and bumps the way you do, with the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

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A Beautiful Personal Account

Revisado: 01-25-22 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I don't know what I expected when I began listening to this book on Audible. I guess I thought it would be an academic book, with lots of historical references. That is not what this book is. It is a beautifully told story of the author's experience seeking to be closer to the Mother of God. In the audible book, the story is told by the author herself. Brandi has a very pleasant voice and the story she tells is very endearing. I felt like I had become a personal friend to the author and I could relate to her story in many ways. Brandi is a wonderful storyteller and paints very detailed images with her words. The way she describes how she sees things inspires me to see more beauty in the everyday occurrences in my own life. During her account, Brandi gives not only her personal reasons of why it's important to her that she seeks to become closer to the Theotokos, but she gives quotes, stories, and teachings of the Orthodox Church and others. I wanted to read this book because I still don't really understand the role of Mary in my own life. Brandi helped me to see that Mary's intercessory prayers are another (beautiful) way that we can seek our Lord, Jesus Christ.

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Christian Denominations in a Nutshell

Revisado: 11-04-21

I believe that this book holds an invaluable place in every Christian's library. In today's 'religious landscape' as the title states, it can be very confusing as to why the church we personally attend states belief(doctrine) in one way and other Christians believe something completely different. Most Christians I know all profess belief in the same Bible, yet that sometimes seems to be the only commonality we have. It is equally difficult to find the basic history of different denominations of Christianity without too much additional information or lots of digging.
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick begins by introducing why our Christian doctrine matters and what the Orthodox Church teaches beginning at the time of the apostles. I felt like Fr. Andrew does a fantastic job of being sensitive to not offend non-Orthodox Christians, while at the same time upholding the truths that the Bible and Orthodox tradition teach. He humbly acknowledges that no one can truly be unbias in their perspective, but notes that he makes an effort to make this book factual and when he is generalizing he makes a point to say so. After discussing history and Orthodoxy, the book discusses the schism between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, then it moves into the reformations and different branches of Evangelicalism. There were so many different denominations listed, I will definitely be listening again to pick up more details that I'm sure I missed. Fr. Andrew included many definitions of terms that I hear defining Christian groups without having understood fully what they meant. The last few sections of the book included Non-Christian Religions and finally Atheism and Agnosticism.
This book is read aloud by Fr. Andrew and he reads clearly and articulately. I found the pace to be pleasant. The book is long, but I already want to relisten to it and plan to do so several times more. I very much enjoyed the content of this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone seeking to understand how the Christian faith ended up where we are today with over 40,000 different denominations.

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Wonderful personal accounts of God's grace

Revisado: 01-10-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

As someone who does not come from the Orthodox Church, but loves learning about the ancient faith, these stories are especially moving. Growing up in mostly Baptist churches, there was no sense of the sanctity of objects or matter. There also was very little said about miraculous encounters or healing in the present day world. The resulting effect is that God feels very impersonal and removed. I can testify to God's presence in my life, but the miracles were always minor ones, nothing profound like the stories in this book. Constantina Palmer's personal stories and those that she has encountered in her travels bring enlightenment of the miracles that take place every day around the world in the most moving ways. I also love the emphasis on the inner changes that we should work on as christians. Beautifully written and easy to listen to. I can't wait to listen again and note all the scriptures she sites throughout the book and look them up. Thank you for sharing Constantina!

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Love this book!

Revisado: 11-15-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I really enjoyed this autobiography. Her writing is witty and entertaining. It also gave me some new insight on what it was like to live through WW2 in that part of the world. As a Christian, I love Princess Ileana’s heart for her people. As a nurse, it’s interesting to hear some of the things she came across, and her struggles as a nurse in the Romanian countryside. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading about life in Romania during the end of WW2, or simply an inspiring story of the good even just one person can achieve through hard work and the will of God!

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