40 Days, 40 Ways (Servant Books)

40 Days, 40 Ways is Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio's latest book. You might remember his previous one, which I also reviewed, called When the Church was Young! In his latest book, he attempts to get us to look at Lent in a new way. Most people dread Lent, and just try and find something to give up to satisfy the requirement and have their "card punched." Dr. D'Ambrosio (aka Dr. Italy) instead provides us with devotions, prayers, or other tasks we can do. He tries to make Lent more about what we can do and not what we cannot do.

Each day is about two to three pages long, and starts with a suggestion on what to do, not just this day in Lent, but the whole season. Some of the tasks are "easy," like pledging to say the "Our Father" three times a day. Other tasks require more effort like going on a contemplative retreat during Lent. After the task, we are then given a long reflection on the specific task for the day. For example, on the day that tells us to pledge to say the "Our Father," Dr. Italy discusses the word father, its meaning, and how personal it is that we can call God our Father. In addition to covering the 40 days of Lent, there are reflections (but no task to complete) for each Sunday during Lent, as well as Easter Sunday. There is also a helpful section of resources at the end, which includes prayers, devotions, books to read, etc.

I found this book to be a refreshing change of perspective on Lent. Be sure to read the Preface, I didn't my first time through and thought the book was a bit overwhelming. However, reading the Preface he encourages you to read through the Table of Contents, and pick a few tasks you can accomplish this Lent. A lot of the tasks are easy enough to accomplish, but if you try and do too many, you might find yourself burnt out trying to change too much, too quickly. I think I will re-read this book during Lent and try and incorporate some of the ideas and maybe gradually over several Lents, I will have accomplished everything in this book. If you're looking for a book that makes you think and re-evaluate what Lent is about (growth and doing stuff, not just giving stuff up), then pick up a copy of Dr. Italy's latest book.

This book was provided to me for free by Servant Books in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

When the Church Was Young (Servant Books)

When the Church was Young is a book about the Early Church Fathers and the latest book from Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio, also known as Dr. Italy. The book covers more than 500 years; both Eastern and Western Fathers; and men from Asia, Africa, and Europe. Some of the big names in this book are St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Jerome, and St. John Chrysostom. However, there are many other names in this book including St. Basil, Terutillian, and St. Cyprian.

Dr. D'Ambrosio begins the book by trying to determine which Church Fathers to include in his book. It is definitely a tough list to trim and one that many people have had to wrestle with. He decided on the definition of "great Christian writers who passed on and clarified the teaching of the apostles from the second through eighth centuries." He then divides them into four periods - 1. Apostolic Fathers (50-150 A.D.), 2. Apologists (150-325 A.D.), 3. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (4th and 5th Centuries), 4. 6th through 8th Centuries (didn't see a name for this period).

We then take a chronological adventure through the Fathers starting with St. Clement of Rome and ending with St. Gregory the Great. The chapter which I really enjoyed was the one on Origen. The chapter begins by telling us about the piety of Origen's father Leonidas. In the middle of the night, Leonidas was taken away to be martyred. We learn about Origen's brilliant mind, him taking over the School of Alexandria, his many writings, his composition of the Hexapla (six Bible translations side-by-side). Unfortunately, we also learn that all his teachings weren't orthodox. He believed in ideas such as pre-existence of the soul and salvation for all. Of course these were wrong, but at his time, many of these doctrines weren't defined yet. It is because of these beliefs that many of his works were destroyed after his death, and it is also the reason that he is not a saint, which is a shame in my opinion.

At 26 chapters and 300+ pages, you can either breeze through this book or you can take a chapter a day and spend a whole month immersing yourself in the early Church. I did the former, due to my knowledge of the Fathers, but if you are unfamiliar with Patristics, then you will want to take your time with this book. It is a top-notch introduction to the Early Church Fathers and one that I would heartily recommend alongside other books on the Fathers, like those by Mike Aquilina. I hope Dr. D'Ambrosio keeps writing about the Fathers and chooses to write about Fathers from different eras, perhaps Desert Fathers, or just goes more in-depth on these Fathers. I feel like he has a wealth of information to share with us, and we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

This book was provided to me for free by Franciscan Media in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!