Encountering the Mystery, by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Published by Image, 2008.   Encountering the Mystery by His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew It is a warm work drawn from his personal experience of living the riches our Orthodox Christian faith has to offer. This very readable book focuses on encountering, which means essentially to meet face to face. The book’s title presents a paradox: How is it that one meets mystery face to face? Furthermore, when one meets mystery face to face, what does one see? What does one do? Rarely does an encounter exist without struggle, a [...]

When God is Not There, by Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki Published by Alexander Press, 2013 This is an exceptional book written by an exceptional author. With a PhD in biomedical engineering from Harvard and MIT and with NASA as a former employer, Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki is one of those people who, when they speak, should be listened to. When he writes a book about suffering and faith, it must be read. With such a pedigree, one would expect a complex, theoretical analysis. This could not be further from the truth. His style is simple, yet [...]

The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer, by Archimandrite Irenei, (Steenberg) Published by St Herman of Alaska, Brotherhood 2012 This book is highly recommended, and is considered one of the best books in English on prayer. In our times, Christians face many distractions and challenges of modern life. As a result, prayer is often seen as either too difficult to sustain, or too abstract to properly experience. The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer is a profound guide to understanding and cultivating prayer for the contemporary Christian. Fr Irenei divides the book into two parts. The first is on self-examination, [...]

The Art of Salvation, by Elder Ephraim Saint Nektarios Monastery Publications, Roscoe, New York, 2014 The Art of Salvation is a collection of thirty-three homilies given by Elder Ephraim, the father of American monasticism and spiritual child of Elder Joseph the Hesychast. The original audience of the first twenty-three homilies comprised lay people, and the latter ten homilies were delivered to the monks of the Holy Monastery of Philotheou, on Mt Athos. This is a beautiful book in both its physical and spiritual content. The publishers have designed a high-quality book with Byzantine icons scattered throughout the pages, immediately drawing [...]