Following Egeria (Ancient Faith Press)

When I first received the book Following Egeria, I wasn't sure what to make of it honestly. I thought to myself, "What kind of spiritual discipline is this Egeria?" I trusted the publisher (Ancient Faith Publishing) and am a fan of the author (Lawrence Farley), so I decided to give the book a chance. Looking at the back of the book, showed how foolish I was to WHO, not what Egeria was. Egeria was a nun from the 4th Century. While she was alive, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and kept a diary of her time there. Fr. Lawrence Farley decided to follow in some of her footsteps and recorded his travels in this book.

The places visited by Fr. Farley include Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Judea, Bethany, and Galilee to name a few. Each chapter begins with a quote from Egeria on what she saw when she was there. Fr. Farley then offers his personal reflections on the location, provides Scriptural descriptions of what occurred there, and historical changes that occurred through the centuries. The most interesting chapter for me was "Recovering the Via Dolorosa." In this chapter, Fr. Farley attempts to find the true path that Jesus would have walked from His condemnation by Pilate to His Crucifixion. In this chapter, he debunks the widely accepted Via Dolorosa by telling us stop by stop which churches are wrong n their claims of what happened. For example, the Ecce Homo Basilica is not where the Roman soldiers played dice for Jesus' belongings.

I have read several books on Holy Land pilgrimages in the past year, and I will probably continue to read them until I make it there myself. The concept for this book was unique in that Fr. Farley tried to follow in some of the steps of Egeria. However, I would have preferred if the book was presented in the same order as Egeria's travels. I also think this book could have been better if it came with some pictures that Fr. Farley took. This would have the book more living and breathing. Overall, I'd give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was interesting, but it could have been much more. I would recommend it, but I would recommend reading Egeria's diary as well, either online for free or purchasing from Amazon.

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

The Ancient Faith Prayer Book and The Epistle to the Hebrews (Ancient Faith Publishing)

The Ancient Faith Prayer Book is compiled and edited by Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou, author of several other Ancient Faith titles including Meditations for Advent, Meditations for Great Lent, Meditations for Holy Week, and my favorite Thirty Steps to Heaven. The book begins with instructions from St. Theophan the Recluse on how to use this prayer book. At the end of the book is a calendar of Feasts and Fasts, as well as dates for Pascha for the next decade. In between these useful "bookends" is the spiritual meat of the text - the Prayers.

The prayers are a blend of ancient prayers and contemporary editions. You will recognize the Trisagion Prayers, Morning Prayers, Evening Prayers, Prayers of Thanksgiving, Prayers Before and After Communion, and the Odes. There are also prayers Before and After Work and Before Using the Internet. There are a lot of prayers related to conception, pregnancy, labor, and miscarriages, which is understandable as married couples want (rightfully so) children. The most interesting section to me was St. Chrysostom's Prayers for Every Hour of the Day. I'm not sure I will be able to, but praying these prayers is a goal I would like to set for myself. This is a very useful prayer book for Orthodox, especially, but for others as well. I personally plan to use this prayer book going forward and recommend you pick up a copy and do likewise. Five stars.

The Epistle to the Hebrews is the latest and perhaps last volume of The Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series. The format stays true to previous volumes in that it includes both Biblical text and commentary from Fr. Lawrence Farley. I have been awaiting this volume for a while, because this epistle was always a bit confusing to me for two reasons. Number One, people often misattribute its authorship to St. Paul, and it bugged me that we didn't know who wrote it. Secondly, it was written to a Jewish audience of that time, and since I am not Jewish some of the finer details of this epistle puzzled me.

Fr. Farley however masterfully works his way through this epistle, which explains to us the importance of Jesus. We (and the Hebrew people back then) learn that Jesus is superior to the angels; greater than Moses; like Melchizedek; that He is High Priest of all of Heaven and Earth; and that we must continue to follow Him, even in times of persecution. My favorite part in these books is always the excurses (detailed side notes). Here, Fr. Farley talks about subjects such as the sacrifice of Christ and the Eucharist. Abolition of the Old Covenant, and the Wrath of God. This volume did not disappoint. I feel more knowledgeable having read it, and am glad I received it to complete my collection of this series. I hope that Fr. Farley will consider a new series for the Old Testament, but understand if he will not. A great book and a perfect commentary for anyone, not just the scholarly. Five stars.

If you are looking to deepen your prayer life and your knowledge of Scriptures, you'll want to pick up these two books, as well as some more volumes of The Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series. You won't be disappointed! It is also about that time to order your calendars for 2015, so check out their Icon Calendar, which features a dozen stunning icons of the Theotokos. These books were provided to me for free by Ancient Faith Publishing.

The Ascetic Lives of Mothers and One Flesh (Ancient Faith Publishing)

Mother's Day is next week. Every year, it gets harder to figure out what to get your mother or wife. Flowers are overpriced and candy only lasts so long. How about getting them a book or two this year? Today, I'll be reviewing two books from Ancient Faith Publishing. One is dedicated strictly to mothers, and the other is dedicated to marriage. Consider picking up one or both for the woman in your life, and some flowers or candy, because women still like those things too. Onto the reviews!

The Ascetic Lives of Mothers is an intimidating title. My wife took one look at the book didn't like the word ascetic in it. Thankfully, the author, Annalissa Boyd, explains how motherhood is like asceticism on the first page. "Like the ascetics, mothers find themselves in a situation that requires their utter devotion, self-denial, daily emotional exercises, facing extreme challenges and much prayer." She follows this up with the two "rules" of motherhood. 1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 2. Love your neighbor as yourself. We then are presented with the virtues needed for motherhood (and life in general) - Humility, Liberality, Chastity, Mildness, Temperance, Happiness, and Diligence.

We then get to the meat of this book - PRAYER! Chapters Two through Nine provide mothers with prayers for every occasion. There are daily prayers; prayers in times of trouble; prayers for the sick, dying, and dead; confession and the Beatitudes; prayers of blessing and thanksgiving; prayers through the stages of motherhood; prayers for godchildren and "bonus" children; and prayers for the future. You might recognize or know a lot of these prayers, but Mrs. Boyd did a nice job of compiling them and organizing them in one place for easy reference when words escape you. She also includes ample Scripture passages and quotes from the great saints before us with many of our prayers, which I greatly appreciated. I also loved that scattered throughout the book are brief biographies on saints who were mothers, like St. Anna, St. Elizabeth. and St. Sophia to name a few.

This is a solid book on prayer and full of prayers. In fact, one could argue that this book is unoriginal. However, I would say that is not a bad thing, as originality can lead to heresy. And sure, you could find a lot of these prayers in other prayer books or online, but they aren't specifically geared for mothers, nor are they thematically arranged.  So while I might not be the target audience for this book, I can see the value in it. This would make a great birthday, Mother's Day, or just because gift for your mother and/or wife.

One Flesh is an examination of marriage and sexuality in the Orthodox Church. It is written by Fr. Lawrence Farley, who is also the author of the Orthodox Bible Study Companion series. He begins the book by questioning and examining why popular culture believes the Church has such a negative view of sex. He also points out the popular argument of almost all our Saints being celibate, and wonders why so few married people are venerated and honored as Saints. Yes, there are notable examples like Sts. Mary and Joseph, Anna and Joachim, Elizabeth and Zechariah, to name a few, but a large group of "married" saints chose to live instead as brother and sister than as husband and wife.

Fr. Farley then turns to the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Church Fathers, and some Church Councils for a look at how each treats and views sexuality. For example, in the Old Testament he investigates the two Creation stories and the story of the Fall in Genesis. Looking over the text and examining it both in English and the original Hebrew, Fr. Farley concludes that the Old Testament has a positive view of sexuality. In his chapter on the Old Testament, he also cites Jacob's love for Rachel as an example of romantic love. In his two chapters on the New Testament, he examines repeat themes that occurred in the Old Testament and original themes to the New Testament. Some new themes include the equality of spouses, mutual authority of spouses, and consecrated virginity.

I really enjoyed and appreciated the chapter on the Church Fathers, as I have a deep love for Patristics. Fr. Farley does an excellent job presenting both the views of Eastern and Western. To sum up his findings, the Eastern Fathers valued celibacy over marriage. Marriage was considered acceptable, but it had to be a lawful marriage; the partners had to practice periods of abstinence; and sexual activity was reserved for procreation, not pleasure and fun. Western Fathers had a pretty low view of marriage and sexuality. Some even referred to sex between a husband and wife as "voluptuous disgrace, frivolity, impurity." And while Augustine did write a piece in defense of marriage, he still believed original sin was passed on to children through sexual activity of the parents, because all sexual activity originates from lust. Reading through some Patristics, it's no wonder people think the Church has such a low view of sexuality.

Fr. Farley closes with practical conclusions we can draw from marriage and sexuality, which you'll have to buy the book to read as they go a bit in depth. He also briefly explains why "marriage" between two men or two women is not a real marriage at all. This was a very enlightening and fascinating read. I wasn't entirely sure it was going to be my cup of tea, but the honest treatment of the subject matter and the views from both the Christian West and Christian East made it very fair and unbiased. If you are looking for a book to read on marriage and sexuality from an Orthodox perspective, this book is for you.

These books were provided to me for free by Ancient Faith Publishing. If you found the reviews helpful, please click here and/or here and hit Yes!

The Acts of the Apostles: Spreading the Word (Ancient Faith Publishing)

There is no book that I love more than the Bible. For this reason, I have always loved Bible commentaries, even back in my Protestant days. I want to know and understand God's Word to the best of my ability, and I can only do that with the help of minds greater than mine. Currently, I am collecting and reading two sets of Bible commentaries - one Catholic and the other Orthodox. Today, I will be reviewing the the latest Orthodox volume called The Acts of the Apostles: Spreading the Word.

The Acts of the Apostles: Spreading the Word is the twelfth volume in The Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series. The series is not intended to be an in-depth word-by-word study, but instead an approachable study you can use either solo or with a group. Fr. Farley begins by explaining that the Acts of the Apostles was written by St. Luke to explain to Theophilus four apologetic points - 1. The Church was not politically suspect; 2. The Church is a legal religion and the True Israel; 3. The Holy Spirit guides the Church; and 4. Gentiles are welcome in the Church as it is God's will. After this introduction, he then dives into the commentary for Acts of the Apostles.

Like every volume in this series, Fr. Farley gives the reader both Scripture and commentary. The commentary provided is scholarly yet approachable. With some passages, he takes time to highlight key words and give their Greek equivalent and meaning. This helps take the passage to a deeper level than one could obtain by just reading the Scripture alone. As helpful as this is, especially for someone like me who is trying to learn Greek, I found the excursuses (or expositions on topics) even more enlightening. A few of the topics addressed in these expositions were the Resurrection of Jesus, Ascension of Jesus, and Lessons from St. Paul's Aeropagus sermon. Each mini-essay gives the reader an extra level of depth, and, since they are asides, the reader has the option to go deeper or just stick with the commentary.

I have been waiting for this one to come out for a few years since one should read Luke and Acts together, and it did not disappoint. Fr. Farley is very astute when he refers to the Acts of the Apostles as both a door and a bridge. It is a door because it gives us a small glimpse of what the Church was like in the First Century, and it is a bridge because it connects the Gospels to the Epistles. If you want to understand Acts better, then this is the book for you. I wholeheartedly recommend it, but I recommend that you purchase it with The Gospel of Luke: Good News for the Poor. Stay tuned in 2014 for the final volume of the New Testament entitled The Epistle to the Hebrews: High Priest in Heaven.

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