Lectures on the Christian Sacraments (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press)

One of my favorite series of books is called the Popular Patristics Series. It has been in publication for years and seeks to make influential writings of the Church Fathers more accessible and available. At present, there are 57 volumes today, and while I don't all of them (unfortunately), I have been blessed with each one I have read. Today, I would like to tell you about the latest volume in the series entitled Lectures on the Christian Sacraments by St. Cyril of Jerusalem.

The book begins with a lengthy (50 pages) introduction which discusses St. Cyril's Mystagogical Catecheses, the importance of Jerusalem in the history of Christianity, the Rites of Christian Initiation in Jerusalem, the authorship of St. Cyril's works, and the various manuscripts of this work. The rest of the book spans 70 pages with Greek on the left pages and an English translation on the right pages. The work is divided into two parts, The Protocatechesis and The Mystagogical Catecheses, with the latter being further divided into five sections - On the Prebaptismal Rites, On the Baptismal Rites, On the Chrismation, On the Body and Blood of Christ, and on the Eucharistic Liturgy.

Overall, I found this a very interesting and historical read. The works themselves are broken down point by point and step by step on what happens during each Sacrament and why it is happening. With a writing style like this, it makes St. Cyril's works very approachable and easy to read. Those who read Greek will appreciate having the original text on opposite pages, as even the best translations lack something. If you would like to learn more about the Sacraments of Initiation during a formative time in Church History, this is the book to buy!

This book was provided to me for free by. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press in exchange for an honest review.

Jesus Crucified (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press)

One of my favorite Church Fathers is St. John Chrysostom. He was such a brilliant man and excellent speaker, which is why he earned the title "golden-mouthed." Anytime you read something he wrote, you know you are in for a challenge and also a treat! Recently, there was a book released called Jesus Crucified: The Baroque Spirituality of St. Dimitri of Rostov. On the back cover of this book, it described St. Dimitri of Rostov as the "Russian Chrysostom," so I knew this book was going to be a must read for me!

The book is 170 pages long and is the first volume of the Treasures of Orthodox Spirituality series. The introduction begins by telling us about his life. He born in December 1651 near Kiev. His sisters entered the monastery and at age 17 he was tonsured at Kirillov Monastery. After a year, he was ordained a deacon and five years after that he was made a priest. From that time until 1701-2, he was made an abbot at five different monasteries and retired from the abbacy three times. It was at this time that he was finally made a bishop at Rostov where he would spend the rest of his life. His most important work was his Lives of the Saints. However, the works covered in this book are devotional in nature, including prayers and meditations for private use.

There are individual chapters in the book, but the contents are divided thematically too. The first two chapters focus on the Wounds of Christ. The next two chapters focus on communion with the following three on worship. There are also two chapters which focus on defeating blasphemous thoughts, something I know I struggle with. We finally get to the meat of this book with three longer devotions on the Passion, followed by three poems which also focus on the Passion. The book closes with prayers focusing on daily confession of sins. Overall, this was a very enriching book to read. It was hard at times and challenging, but it was a journey that was well worth the read. I highly recommend you check out this book and read it during Holy Week or anytime!

This book was provided to me for free by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press in exchange for an honest review.

Pictures That Tell Stories: Art for Children (Prestel Publishing)

Introducing children to art has shown to have many benefits for them. Making art teaches them motor skills. It also helps with language development, because children can point out shapes and colors. There are also the added benefits of creativity, cultural awareness, and visual learning. That is why, if possible, it is a great idea to take your children to museums. It might be overwhelming the first time or so, as kids and calmly observing don't go hand-in-hand, but it can also be very rewarding. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to go to a museum, so thankfully there are many rewarding resources that can accomplish the same thing. One of my favorite ones is the books that Prestel Publishing produces. Known for making books on art, architecture, design, and photography, Prestel Publishing has produced a series of children's books that make famous paintings more inviting and accessible for the younger ones. Three of those books are Where is the Frog?, The Great Wave, and A Bird in the Winter.

Each book is a glorious hardcover measuring approximately 10" x 13" with the focus of a singular painting from a great artist. The three great works from the three above books are Claude Monet's The Water Lily Pond, Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, and Pieter Bruegel's The Hunters in the Snow. Each book is narrative in nature, but focuses on telling a story from the painting itself. In Where is the Frog?, a little frog named Antoinette has heard that a famous artist (Monet) doesn't paint animals, so she is doing her best to end up in one of his paintings. The Great Wave tells the story of a newborn baby found in a boat, who even after seven years has not grown a bit. There are mythical and mysterious fish who might hold the answer to this enigma. A Bird in the Winter turns the painting on its head and instead of being about the hunters is instead about an injured bird that a little girl discovers. At the end of each book, we see a beautiful representation of the painting as well as some biographical information on the painter and what they painted. These are excellent books and I would highly recommend any and all of them!

The books were provided to me by Prestel Publishing for honest reviews.