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Holy Women Empower Holy Women

Revisado: 09-21-22

Seven Holy Women is a beautiful book that shares the stories of seven female saints, personal connections between the saints and each of the women who wrote about them, questions and prompts for the reader to think about and complete on her own, and questions to complete with friends. Something I deeply appreciated about this book was the raw honesty each of the writers used when sharing their own stories. Hearing about areas where they struggle with the faith or more broadly in their own lives was validating because it reminded me how we are all walking together on the journey of strengthening our relationship with God and deepening our faith. It also reminded me of the importance we have in supporting one another and taught me about so many strong female saints who are interceding for us. One story I especially loved was that of St. Kassiani: hearing her boldness in responding to the emperor even before she became a nun was so empowering. I highly recommend this book to any woman who wants to learn more about some of the incredible women we have interceding for us.

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Life & Works of a Great Martyr

Revisado: 03-21-22

Bearing God by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick is an inside look on St. Ignatius of Antioch’s life and works. The book shares a synthesis of the main themes that appear throughout St. Ignatius’s letters. The book is beautifully narrated by Fr. Andrew, which makes it easy to listen to and understand.

I appreciated that in the introduction of the book, Fr. Andrew shares how he is personally connected to St. Ignatius and how learning about St. Ignatius was part of what brought him to the Orthodox faith. Hearing this personal account made me more excited to listen to the book because it reminded me that this is not just another historical work or a reminder of how the early church operated, but that these works from the early church must translate into our lives in the way we act as Christians.

A few of the ideas that stood out to me the most in this book are how St. Ignatius viewed martyrdom, the role of the bishop, and the importance of the unity of the church. Hearing about how St. Ignatius was truly desiring martyrdom, even deflecting people who were trying to spare him from this end, was a wake-up call in seeing if I truly desire to suffer with Christ as St. Ignatius did. I also appreciated learning about the importance of the bishop and how in the early church, the bishop was also the local priest. Learning about how St. Ignatius truly sees each person as bearing God was beautiful. Finally, the importance of the unity of the church stood out to me because of Christ’s prayer in John 17.

I wish I read St. Ignatius’s letters before reading this book because I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the book had I read the letters first. I recommend this book to those who want to learn more from one of the earliest church fathers from someone who has a personal connection to the saint!

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Informative & Engaging Explanation of the Gospel

Revisado: 10-06-21

Arise, O God by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick is a short book on the true focus of the gospel. Saturated with historical facts, theological truths, and a bit of humor, Fr. Andrew does a commendable job engaging the reader (or listener) of this book. The audiobook is an engaging listening experience, as Fr. Andrew has an expressive voice.

Although I am Orthodox, I personally learned a great deal from Arise, O God. One of the details that especially fascinated me in the book was that Fr. Andrew explained several ways of how pagan worship was practiced and some of the similarities and differences between worship of God and worship of idols. This book was also the first time I ever heard such a detailed explanation of demons in terms of their role in the story of salvation. As I listened to the audiobook, I found myself rewinding the audio several times to make sure I didn’t miss any of the rich details.

Arise, O God is well-rooted in theology and describes a number of concepts key in understanding the salvation Jesus brings. I appreciated the ties between the Old Testament and the New Testament, as the story of salvation cannot be separated.

One aspect I wonder about after listening to this book is how this message of the gospel can be conveyed without diminishing the importance of an intimately personal relationship with Christ in accepting the Orthodox faith. Regardless, Arise, O God is both engaging and informative, and I have already recommended the book to several people to read.

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Practicable Advice on Prayer

Revisado: 06-18-21

This quick, practicable book on prayer is full of insight on how to improve your prayer life. I appreciate that L. Joseph Letendre addresses some of the basic barriers to prayer and how to adjust accordingly (with approval of your spiritual father). Some of the points he brings up that I found especially helpful were:

1- The command to pray always (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1) comes from the Greek “hesychia,” meaning to “come to rest.” This helps to frame prayer not as a burden but as a way finding rest in the presence of God.
2- You can choose short verses from the Psalms to continue repeating to help with continuous prayer.
3- You can adjust the Jesus Prayer according to the church season.
4- Sometimes a period of not feeling anything during prayer shows that deep work is being done on your prayer life, like when you get a shot of anesthesia at the dentist.

The book is also full of Bible references. I appreciated that Letendre said the references in the recording of the book as it helps us to understand how the advice is grounded in Scripture and provides reference for further digging.

Although this book may be short, it is full of spiritual depth. I have already listened to this book twice, and I plan to listen to it again.

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A Grace for Every Virtue

Revisado: 01-08-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

As someone who listened to and loved The Scent of Holiness, I was beyond excited to start listening to The Sweetness of Grace. The Sweetness of Grace has the familiar, comforting format of short stories that are simultaneously easy to listen to and are full of great spiritual depth. The Beatitudes were used as both the book outline and chapter titles, and this format helped me to focus on how every virtue is a source of a particular grace.

Constantina beautifully shows the simplicity and depth of the Orthodox faith through this book, and the stories she shared have been good reminders and sources of encouragement to keep pursuing the narrow path. I also appreciated Constantina’s openness in the book, sharing her own personal stories and experiences of God’s grace in her life.

Two parts of the book I especially appreciated were (1) the importance of taking your spiritual rule seriously, not doing things outside of that rule without a blessing from your spiritual father and not growing prideful if you have a stricter spiritual rule than someone else and (2) the reality of and to be cautious against spiritual delusion. I appreciated how open Constantina was in talking about these topics and personally learned a lot. As these are just two small pieces out of a book filled with a plethora of nuggets of spiritual wisdom, I believe that anyone who reads this book will be able to learn something.

The Sweetness of Grace is truly a book for everyone. Its short stories make it easy to digest, especially for someone who may not have the time or focus to keep up with one elongated story, Constantina is a wonderful narrator that is both pleasant to listen to and draws you into each of the stories as though you were right alongside her, and most importantly, this book is another tool to aid in spiritual growth by learning through the stories of others and wisdom of many saints.

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Pearls of Wisdom from Orthodox Nuns and Novices

Revisado: 11-01-20

The Scent of Holiness by Constantina R. Palmer is a must listen for anyone who desires to learn from the pearls of wisdom that comes from contemporary Orthodox nuns and novices. Although some books with monastic wisdom tend to be more solemn, Constantina does a beautiful job of using a storytelling format to convey the messages. This format makes the wisdom both easier to digest and humanizes monastics. I especially appreciate the humanizing aspects of this book because it reminds me so much of the nuns and novices that I have developed relationships with in a Coptic women’s monastery in the U.S.

It is because this book is full of stories that it makes Constantina’s narration of her own writing all the more meaningful. I will mention that the recording of the intro to the book felt just slightest bit choppy to me, but once the book itself started, the audio is very smooth and easy to listen to. The thoughtfulness and effort that went into the making of this book is evident, even with the smallest details as with the number of chapters (33) and calling each chapter a “knot,” as on a prayer rope, did not go overlooked.

Even further, I loved that Constantina took every story, no matter how small it may have seemed, and helped us see how we could be taking each opportunity to learn and grow closer to Christ. It is a perfect reminder that there is nothing so small or menial in our lives that cannot be directed towards God.

While I would recommend this book to everyone, I especially think women should read this book. Often, the lives of women monastics go overlooked, and this is a beautiful book both for young women and seasoned women alike who need some encouragement to keep living a life of holiness. I will without question be listening to this book again and because of how much I enjoyed it, I even sent the audible link to two friends while listening to it. A third person heard a snippet of this book while I was playing it on a car ride, and she is looking forward to listening to it as well.

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