I have recently completed a most informative read of Rock and Sand. I found myself often nodding my head in agreement, and came away from the book in fundamental agreement with the Orthodox perspective that Sola Scriptura has left the church with a legacy of division, more than anything else. I also learned how very little the “church in the west” really knows about “the church in the east”, which saddens me. I recommend “Rock and Sand” to any believer who desires to consider more deeply “the faith once for all delivered to the saints”, as well as to those who are willing to have their presuppositions challenged. Believe me, they will be, and that’s a good thing!
Cordially,
Jim Whiting
Charlestown, RI

This board book recounts how Saint Abigail* founded her church in Ballyvourney in Ireland. Illustrations are charming and the story also functions as a little count along as Abigail encounters one angel, two fishermen and so forth on her way from her home on Inisheer island to where she founds her church. Included at the back is some extra detail about St. Abigail, such as her keeping bees.

My daughter really enjoyed the story and this book, it is very absorbing for younger children as mentioned in other reviews.

*In Gaelic we call her Gobnait, in case anybody is in Ireland looking for her sites.

My bookmark is more beautiful than the picture.

My 5 year old daughter loves these, the quality is superb and I enjoy working on these books with her.

The author gives vivid accounts of the lives of the Welsh saints, while acknowledging that some material is sketchy or possibly legendary. I would suggest that an index and calendar would be a useful in a second edition. I hope that Mr. Craton will continue his work with a book on the Anglo-Saxon saints of England.

It’s beautiful and we love it!

As expected!

Good general ideas, but not sure if I can call it a roadmap. Each congregation can certainly glean a lot from it regardless of denomination. I do think however that the book is also too anecdotal and is unnecessarily stuffed with too many "I" stories.

I bought this (Deluxe Edition) for a dear friend. She absolutely loves it. From the feel of the cover to the words in the pages in between. The Psalms are certainly nurturing her journey. Humbling indeed.
If you are on the fence about this one, I encourage you to take the leap.

Fantastic bookmark. Great quality, thickness, and aesthetics

This icon is so very beautiful. I have had many requests for this particular icon from customers to our church bookstore so they can add it to their home altar. Please get more in stock!!

Great read and very helpful. Good for struggling convert parents trying to integrate the church into daily family life :). A good mix of church history, explanation, and personal stories from orthodox parents.

This tapestry bookmark is very well made. It is the perfect size and exact length for my Orthodox Study Bible and thin enough to not be bulky.

I’ve always been into the history of Christianity in the British Isles. I’ve studied a lot about about the saints from England, Ireland, and Scotland, but, honestly, Wales was never really on my radar—until I got this book. Craton opened my eyes with this one! He’s done a great job bringing to life 42 saints from early Welsh Christianity I’d basically never heard of before.

What I loved is that this book doesn’t just throw a bunch of dates and info at you. Craton’s writing feels warm and engaging, like he wants you to get to know these saints as real people, not just old names in a dusty list. Each one has their feast day, a glimpse into their world, and pronunciation of the Welsh names.. It was engaging enough for me and I'm using it as a resource to teach my 9 year old about some of the saints.

If you have Welsh roots, are curious about Christian history, or just want to dive into a lesser-known corner of the Celtic world, this book is worth your time. It’s quite a bit more accessible than you might think. Highly recommend adding it to your reading list!

Really nicely written book for kids. I would say more 8 and up. However my 4 year old does like a few pages at a time. Today at church she did get a big.smile and say "we read that in my new book" my 10 year old was able to read it himself and then had a fun conversation with me afterward randomly while we were driving. "I knew we said these things mom but I never knew where they came from"

My 3 and 4 year old loved the pictures

Having read Oswin Craton’s first work on Holy Fools, I didn’t hesitate to check out this more recent compilation of saints’ lives. Orthodox Saints of Wales is a treasury containing the lives of forty-two saints spanning the first through the seventh centuries. It is a well-timed book, as Orthodoxy continues to grow in North America and there is a need for more accounts about the lives of the pre-schism saints of Western Europe.

Some of the entries take up one page, while others range from two to three pages in length (like the entry for St. David, the patron saint of Wales). I greatly appreciated the introduction and the author’s explanation of how he conducted his research and chose between sources.

I also appreciated learning how the monks of the British Isles — and especially the Welsh saints — were influenced by the eremitic monasticism of the Desert Fathers of Egypt. Yet they also incorporated elements of their own culture, such as the use of “holy wells.”

Each entry contains not just a well-written account of the life of a specific saint but also the date of their feast day and alternate spellings of their name. There is also a map and a pronunciation guide in the back of the book. There is enough in each entry to give the reader a sense of the saint’s life and to prompt further research if he or she would like to learn even more. Great selection for a book club too!

I Love my Beautiful Well Made Crosses ❤️💙

Very nice. Well made, solid.

A pleasure to read. Fills in details of the lives of the individual Myrrh bearers. Ties the spectrum of Myrrh from the Wise Men to the Resurrection.

Holy Angels

by Mother Alexandra

Let's start with the author. This is a biography that if it was fiction, you would find it unbelievable:

Mother Alexandra (1909–1991) was born Princess Ileana of Romania. The youngest daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, she experienced the upheavals of World War I as a child and early on dedicated herself to charitable deeds alongside her mother. At age 22, she married Archduke Anton of Austria, gaining a large family—six children, two born during World War II.

By 1944, with Nazi advances and later the Communist takeover, Princess Ileana turned her castle in Bran into a hospital, caring for the wounded until exile forced her and her family to flee through Switzerland and Argentina to settle in Massachusetts. Adapting to this new life, she sold jewelry and lectured widely to support her family. Once her children were grown, she embraced a life of devotion, taking the name Mother Alexandra, founding the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, PA, and nurturing a deep spirituality until her repose in 1991. The monastery website is orthodoxmonasteryellwoodcity dot org

Now for the book! This is NOT an academic book, but it is scholarly and well researched. It's a serious and thoughtful investigation of angels as they appear in scripture, extra-biblical texts, the writings of the Church Fathers, their references in various liturgies (primarily Orthodox, but also Roman and Protestant church texts) and in art.

She starts off and closes the book discussing hre own encounter with an angel, and it does color the text. She acknowledges this encounter profoundly: “Having witnessed the angels directly” shapes her entire theological perspective. Rather than dry theology, Mother Alexandra’s guide is a guide to prayer and awareness. This isn't a text book, nor is it a prayer book, but it is something of both.

This book was written by an Orthodox Christian with, I assume, an Orthodox audience in mind. Other Christians, particularly more liturgical Christians, will enjoy this as it is written. For low church protestants this book will be more challenging. But maybe that's a good thing. American Christianity has a very materialistic bent to it, and getting a better understanding on the larger reality that includes angels wouldn't hurt.