I am so pleased to have received a copy of "Heaven Meets Earth Celebrating Pascha and the Twelve Feasts" by John Kosmas Skinas. This book is beautifully done and has been an excellent resource for my Sunday school class. "Heaven Meets Earth" offers a vast amount of information following the liturgical year of our holy Orthodox faith. Included are icons, festal hymns and Gospel readings and an Old Testament connection to the feasts and more. I highly recommend "Heaven Meets Earth Celebrating Pascha and the Twelve Feasts". This book would make a wonderful addition to every Orthodox family library.

Great book and great service from AFR

I have a little red book...published in 1956.
My husband converted to the Orthodox faith..and I bought this for him!
Thank you ...he loves it!!

Concise, adequately detailed and not polemical.

The author did an excellent job in encapsulating the story for each day in a meaningful and understandable way, that also did not stray so far from the original language. I have read these familiar Old Testament stories time and time again with my children from various children’s’ Bibles, and yet I learned something new and gained a renewed conception of them through this work. My four year old loves it and learned so much even though she didn’t understand everything, and I’m sure older children and adults (like myself) can all benefit. The art work is beautiful too. Thank you for thisvresource that has become a tradition for our family.

I just finished reading The Sweetness of Grace: Stories of Christian Trial and Victory by Constantina Palmer, and it is a wonderful reading experience. This book is a collection of anecdotes and sayings of holy elders, monks and nuns, priests and laymen throughout the Orthodox world, as well as the author's personal experiences and thoughts. They are thematically arranged around the Beatitudes, which are, in the author’s words, “a recipe for holiness.” The stories in this book are meant to show the world the sweet results of that recipe.

Many of the stories in this book are miraculous, but the most characteristic story was, to me, at first one of the more underwhelming. In an anecdote titled "She Thought He Was the Gardener," Presbytera describes praying for drowsy hours attending an all-night-vigil for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos in a warm church, after a long day of hard work in the November chill. As a familiar-looking woman, whose name she doesn’t know, approaches Holy Communion first among the nuns, Presbytera reacts with horror—she can’t commune before the Abbess! As the nun communes though, she realizes that it actually is the beloved Gerontissa, and she simply had not recognized her through the whole service, despite knowing her well.

The lesson that Presbytera draws from the story is that by God's grace and our participation therein through ascetic struggle, we can become "in His likeness" and become transfigured into "a true person,” even unrecognizable to those who know us. Mary Magdalene, according to the author, did not recognize Christ her Teacher at the Resurrection because he was transfigured, and Presbytera Constantina believes that she fleetingly did not recognize the Abbess so well known to her, because she too was transfigured by her participation in God's grace and ascetical struggle. It was only when Gerontissa approached Holy Communion that she finally recognized her, not coincidentally, the same place that the disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized our Lord.

Why is this seemingly innocuous and highly personal anecdote the lens through which I came to read this book? It illustrates some of the most important principles that draw together the various stories of this book: namely the extreme nearness of grace to us all, and the thin, gauzy nature of the separation between us and the spiritual world. The Orthodox Christians chronicled in the Sweetness of Grace have sought first the Kingdom by being the poor in spirit, the mourning and meek, the pure in heart and the persecuted. They hunger and thirst for righteousness, make peace, and are merciful, and as a result, they see the work of the Kingdom everywhere. Part of the growth in holiness brought about by the life of the beatitudes is having “eyes to see” the spiritual meaning behind even the mundane events of our lives. In this, and other stories, Presbytera exhorts us also to develop spiritual eyes, because for those willing, the grace to see is there.

In other stories, the miraculous is much more spectacular and immediate—a friend takes her chronic and debilitating back pain to a holy elder, who makes the sign of the cross upon her neck, the origin of the pain according to her doctor, and the long-standing ache disappears. Another renowned monk responds to a letter full of worries and cares—addressing them in detail—before the original letter is even sent. Saints long dead (and whose names may not be known to American readers—some were unknown to me) appear bodily to people in need and deliver divine help. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for devotional reading that will inspire. Its format makes it perfect for slow, daily, prayerful reading. It is not a difficult book, but it will challenge any reader. More importantly, it will make you want to pray.

Disclaimer: Ancient Faith provided me with a copy of this book to review.

I am so pleased to have received a copy of "Heaven Meets Earth Celebrating Pascha and the Twelve Feasts" by John Kosmas Skinas. This book is beautifully done and is an excellent resource for my Sunday school class. "Heaven Meets Earth" offers a vast amount of information following the liturgical year of our holy Orthodox faith. Included are icons, festal hymns and Gospel readings, an Old Testament connection to the feasts and more. I highly recommend this book for every Orthodox family library and Church school.

Beautiful prayers and suggestions for use!

Beautiful prayers and suggestions for use!

I just finished reading The Sweetness of Grace: Stories of Christian Trial and Victory by Constantina Palmer, and it is a wonderful reading experience. This book is a collection of anecdotes and sayings of holy elders, monks and nuns, priests and laymen throughout the Orthodox world, as well as the author's personal experiences and thoughts. They are thematically arranged around the Beatitudes, which are, in the author's words, 'a recipe for holiness.' The stories in this book are meant to show the world the sweet results of that recipe.

Many of the stories in this book are miraculous, but the most characteristic story was, to me, at first one of the more underwhelming. In an anecdote titled "She Thought He Was the Gardener," Presbytera describes praying for drowsy hours attending an all-night-vigil for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos in a warm church, after a long day of hard work in the November chill. As a familiar-looking woman, whose name she doesn't know, approaches Holy Communion first among the nuns, Presbytera reacts with horror'she can't commune before the Abbess! As the nun communes though, she realizes that it actually is the beloved Gerontissa, and she simply had not recognized her through the whole service, despite knowing her well.

The lesson that Presbytera draws from the story is that by God's grace and our participation therein through ascetic struggle, we can become "in His likeness" and become transfigured into "a true person,' even unrecognizable to those who know us. Mary Magdalene, according to the author, did not recognize Christ her Teacher at the Resurrection because he was transfigured, and Presbytera Constantina believes that she fleetingly did not recognize the Abbess so well known to her, because she too was transfigured by her participation in God's grace and ascetical struggle. It was only when Gerontissa approached Holy Communion that she finally recognized her, not coincidentally, the same place that the disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized our Lord.

Why is this seemingly innocuous and highly personal anecdote the lens through which I came to read this book? It illustrates some of the most important principles that draw together the various stories of this book: namely the extreme nearness of grace to us all, and the thin, gauzy nature of the separation between us and the spiritual world. The Orthodox Christians chronicled in the Sweetness of Grace have sought first the Kingdom by being the poor in spirit, the mourning and meek, the pure in heart and the persecuted. They hunger and thirst for righteousness, make peace, and are merciful, and as a result, they see the work of the Kingdom everywhere. Part of the growth in holiness brought about by the life of the beatitudes is having 'eyes to see' the spiritual meaning behind even the mundane events of our lives. In this, and other stories, Presbytera exhorts us also to develop spiritual eyes, because for those willing, the grace to see is there.

In other stories, the miraculous is much more spectacular and immediate'a friend takes her chronic and debilitating back pain to a holy elder, who makes the sign of the cross upon her neck, the origin of the pain according to her doctor, and the long-standing ache disappears. Another renowned monk responds to a letter full of worries and cares'addressing them in detail'before the original letter is even sent. Saints long dead (and whose names may not be known to American readers'some were unknown to me) appear bodily to people in need and deliver divine help. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for devotional reading that will inspire. Its format makes it perfect for slow, daily, prayerful reading. It is not a difficult book, but it will challenge any reader. More importantly, it will make you want to pray.

Disclaimer: Ancient Faith provided me with a copy of this book to review.

your other bookmarks are more lovely than the St. Nicholas one, but I'd still use it.

I liked it. Nice choices.

A very good introduction to our faith for children. I wish it was around when I was young! I'd like to see more pics in future editions.

Top notch leather quality.

Wonderful little book with great illustrations and rhymes. Family favorite! Maybe it should be renamed to "A goodnight kiss for Jesus" though.

Beautiful cards! I will order these again!

Love it! We wish there was a Saint Emmelia and Saint Isaac of Syria

Very nice cards will order them again

When you start an audiobook and your children immediately pay attention, listening raptly to the story being told, you know you’ve found a good one. It may help that they had already heard “Sam and Saucer,” the first book in the series (I’ve heard a 3rd one is coming), and that they know the author’s voice and associate Melinda Johnson with the story of Sam and the sweet, energetic little Corgi, Saucer, but whatever the reason, the peaceful, happy car ride was worth it.

I enjoyed listening to this book, and I found that it more richly developed the characters introduced in the first story, but did so in a manner that the book also stands alone. I loved the depth of this book and appreciated hearing the characters’ struggles and successes in relationships with one another and with their faith. The stories-within-the-story also led to some creative thinking by my children, as they each talked about what they might write if they were the children in the book.

We appreciated the scene from Christmas, and while the children felt for Sam, they were also overjoyed at the ending, when Sam revealed that while he’d initially been disappointed, he’d learned to look at the situation from a different perspective, one that allowed him to see things from a lens of developing faith.

Another thing that the author did well was to depict the very real struggle of one of the nuns; one that many of us face in our day to day lives: That of comparing ourselves to others. Sister Anna goes so far as to “place a fleece” in order to hear from God, and she’s wisely redirected by the abbess. I felt that it was a good depiction to my children of the fact that not only do children struggle, but adults do, too, and that we’re all learning and growing in faith and love together.

My children and I all look forward to hearing what comes next!

What did worship in the early church look like? Which modern church reflects that worship the most closely? If Judaism is the mother of Christianity, why does so much modern Christian worship bear no resemblance to Jewish worship? At what point did things change so drastically? For that matter...what's the purpose of worship at all?

Modern Christians are either falling away from the church in droves or they are fighting tooth and nail to find their way back to a faith that looks more like what the Apostles experienced. Their struggle is often fuelled by the questions above. 

If you have questions like these, the book "Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity With the Synagogue, the Temple, and the Early Church" is the text you are looking for.  In this book, Benjamin Williams and Harold Anstall explain how closely early Christian worship was intertwined with temple and synagogue worship, and they paint a picture of the early church. They flesh out the Gospel account of Jesus' worship as an observant Jew and describe how the Apostles and early disciples would have continued to practice their Jewish faith with the illumination or faith in Christ. 

Because early Christian worship was so intertwined with Jewish worship, they observe, it was liturgical in the same way, and Jewish liturgical  worship was revealed by God in the Old Testament as a reflection of heavenly worship. That leads us to the purpose of worship, its critical importance, and the root of a modern problem: the majority of modern Christian worship no longer follows a liturgical format, and it has thus lost its root as a reflection of heavenly worship.

If liturgy is so important, where do we turn? To the only church that has remained stubbornly faithful, throughout history, to its liturgical tradition: the Eastern Orthodox church. This church looks strange to many Western Christians, having grown out of a culture foreign to us. But it shares its culture and history with Christ and the Apostles themselves. In part one, the book explains how the Orthodox Divine Liturgy we see today developed from the original Old Testament liturgical worship, through the worship of the early Christians. In the book's second part, Williams and Anstall write a useful guide to the origins, format, elements and meaning of the oldest liturgy in Christendom, and show it to be unalterably relevant, as the inheritance of that heavenly liturgy first revealed by God to the Jews. Listen to this book and you will learn, in fact, how it is that liturgy includes not just the purpose of worship, but the meaning of life itself.