I bought this book for my Kindle and after reading only one chapter, I bought a copy for my sister. Now that I've finished the book, I'm going to buy a physical copy to share with my Godmother, etc. Thank you, dear Constantina, for sharing these lessons with us. Servant of God, Anna

Wonderful, super-honest reflections for Orthodox Christian moms-or any Christian, for that matter :) No other author writes as honestly about the challenges of living out her faith and the challenges of motherhood as Molly Sabourin..Highly recommend!

arrived quickly, super service! I wish every experience was like this! I use the book working with inmates at a state prison

When I first received this work I wondered to myself, "Why does God keep getting me to review books geared toward women?" Like the other books, I tried read this with an open mind. The introduction bothered me a little bit. Mrs. Palmer discusses how she went from Catholicism to Anglicanism to Orthodoxy, because the Orthodox Church had something the Catholic Church was missing. This upset me a little bit, because I love my Catholic faith, but also have a great love for the Orthodox faith as well. Needless to say, I was even more leery reading this work, as I felt it already had two strikes against it for me. 1. It was geared toward women. 2. It felt like an attack on my Catholic faith. I pressed on though, and I am glad that I did!

The book is divided into 33 chapters. This is done intentionally as the Orthodox prayer rope or chotki has 33 knots in it, so Mrs. Palmer demonstrates that this book is a prayer for her and the reader. Each chapter or knot provides valuable insight on what goes on in a women's monastery as well as the lessons Mrs. Palmer learned from the day-to-day happenings. Her insight and attention to detail provided me a mental picture of a place I will never be able to see with the clarity she did. Sure, I could visit a women's monastery, but I would never be able to access it as freely as she had since I am a man, so this was eye-opening.

The best part of the book for me was seeing the personality of all the sisters. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I see someone in the garb of their religious order, I tend to forget that they are human at all. Mrs. Palmer did a nice job of showing these sisters' human sides in their ability to laugh and find joy in silly things as well as their saintly sides in living out their vocation. Each sister had her own gifts and path to holiness, and that too reminded me that even though we are all different, we're all pursuing the same goal, Heaven and union with God.

If I had one gripe to make, it would be that Mrs. Palmer used a glossary as opposed to footnotes. There are a ton of Greek terms in this book, and I was only familiar with a handful of them. Someone in the Orthodox Church might not have trouble with these terms, but I had to take time to flip to the back of the book and look up most of them. It would have been easier if the term was defined in a footnote at the bottom of the page it was on. For this reason, I am deducting a 1/2 star from my rating and giving this work 4.5 out of 5 stars. The glossary inconvenience aside, this is still a great book and worth reading. We have many works of what goes on in men's monasteries, so this was definitely a welcome glimpse into what goes on in women's monasteries.

This is a delightful book in every way!

First, it's easy to read; you don't need any theological background or anything. There's even a glossary of Orthodox Christian terminology to consult whenever a word may be unfamiliar, although there aren't so many of those as to lessen any reader's enjoyment at all.

Secondly, this book is very interesting, giving us many glimpses into the day-to-day life of the monastery and some of the life stories of the nuns of Constantina's favorite monastery in Greece. The nuns written about are, of course, quite charming; you get to know them a little and wish you could know them better. This alone would be enough to keep you turning the pages, but there's more. There are little miracles recounted, and encounters with beautiful people in addition to the nuns.

Thirdly, as the subtitle implies, you learn many useful things - but so gently and so charmingly are the lessons taught that you hardly even realize that's what they are. The main thing you learn, as Constantina did, is how little you know or understand of living the Christian life - but also what you can do to learn and understand more. This makes the book more than delightful; it is also *important*.

Constantina's objective in writing the book was, she tells us, to share with us some of the precious gifts she was given, so that we may also enjoy them, and in this she completely succeeds. The whole book contains the scent of holiness, breathes the perfume of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Matushka Constantina! And thanks be to God.

Mother Alexandra, as Princess Ileana was known in her later life as a monastic, is a remarkable woman whose work has gone unrecognized. Although she lacked the glamour and celebrity of her famous mother, Queen Marie of Romania, Ileana was Queen Marie's closest and favorite daughter. In this book Ileana's story is finally told and we can see the qualities mirrored from her mother -- deeply rooted faith and love of orthodox church, a passion for Romania and its people, and a desire to see peace in her homeland and freedom for its people. Ileana's story from privileged royal child, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, to Mother Alexandra who worked to teach and preserve the orthodox faith here in America is well told and at last the quiet impact this exiled princess had on the world scene is revealed.

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like a more in depth vision of the Psalter to add to their prayer life.

I grew up Southern Baptist, and always prided myself on my knowledge of the Bible. I can still list all 66 books of the Protestant Bible in order to this day. It wasn't until I had to go to Catholic School that I discovered there were extra books in their Bible. It wouldn't be until years later when I converted that I learned that Protestants had removed the books and they weren't added by Catholics or Orthodox at all.

In fact, I often get asked by family members who are still Baptist, "What do you call those extra books in your Bible?" And, I must admit, sometimes I answer half-seriously and half-sarcastically, "The Bible," because they aren't extra to Catholics or Orthodox. They are simply a normal part of our Bible. However, as Mr. Mathis points out in his Introduction, in the early part of the Church, these were referred to as "The Readables." This is a much better response than I was giving and the term gives a truer sense of what these books are, as opposed to terms such as "Apocrypha" or "Deuterocanonical." These truly are books that are beneficial for all Christians to read.

Each chapter is approximately ten pages long and provides you with a background/summary of the Scripture, how it is used in the Church liturgically (if it is so used), and/or what the Church Fathers had to say about it, also known as Patristics. The chapter sections on what the Church Fathers had to say was the most interesting and helpful to me. I have a great love for Patristics, and I believe that they understand the Scriptures better than anyone as they were alive close to the time when it was written.

This book is a very easy and understandable read. If you have read these books/sections in your Bible, then you will recognize many familiar passages and gain a better appreciation of them. If you have never read these selections in your Bible or these selections aren't in your Bible, then this book is a must-read for you. Tobit and the Wisdom of Sirach are two of my favorite of "The Readables," but you will find something beneficial for your spiritual life in all of them. So pick up this 5 star book to serve as a reading companion for you while reading the Bible.

It is a very good book to read for those who are familiar with the concept of AA. The people who truly sick Orthodoxy.

I was told to read this book by my priest's wife, and it was very worthwhile as an immigrant story and as a working spiritual autobiography.

This author has helped in my understanding of how the ancient faith is so wonderfully whole and full in modern life

Very moving, rings true. Simple but profound insights, and besides, a good read. For whom it may concern, I found that, in our confusing days of spiritual amalgamation and ubiquitous propensity towards personal opinion and originality, this book stands out as solidly orthodox, letting the monastery speak for itself through humble and touching spiritual stories. Don't miss it.

Excellent book. As a recent convert to the Orthodox faith I found this book very helpful in explaining the meaning and reasons behind the different sections of the Divine Liturgy. Lots of details without being a hard read. I highly recommend to anyone looking for more information to answer the "why do we do that?" sort of questions regarding things done during the Liturgy.

Having visited both men's and women's monasteries I can attest to the fact that while they are similar in many ways, each has its own "flavor" or character. Most of the books written about Orthodox monasticism are written about men's monasteries. The fact that The Scent of Holiness was written by a woman about women's monasteries is significant and a welcome addition.

Matushka Constantina spent considerable time visiting several women's monasteries in Greece. She grew to know the nuns well and in the end was very much an "insider". She is therefore able to give us a unique perspective on the day-to-day life in an Orthodox women's monastery. The nuns are not plaster saints but ordinary women "working out [their] salvation in fear and trembling."

More importantly, through the numerous vignettes we are able to glean some of the simple lessons monasticism has to teach us. Lack of curiosity, humility, self-knowledge, control of thoughts, and obedience are a few of these priceless pearls. Matushka is careful to point out that never during her stays was she deliberately "taught" by the nuns. They always taught by example or by relating stories of their own.

Not everything in the book is serious, far from it! In the course of her time in Greece Matushka was learning Greek and there are several humorous anecdotes in which this elementary knowledge played a part - to the great amusement of the nuns. My favorite by far is the story of the "dark animal that walks in the air."

Reading The Scent of Holiness is akin to visiting a monastery yourself. You will find yourself unable to put it down and when you finally emerge, blinking in the daylight, you will not be quite the same person who picked up the book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Fr. Lawrence's writing is easy to follow. This has given me new perspective on the Old Testament's pointing to Christ

I bought this in Afghanistan. I left it on a reading shelf in Bagram. I left it not because I didn't love it but, instead, because I loved it so much that I could not keep it to myself. I imagine other people who are pilgrims in this world seeking God and looking for others who have found the Way. Father Peter did a wonderful thing for us, leading many to the true Church, and publishing this map to Christ and his Orthodox Church. May this good Father's memory live eternal!

I imagine this book that I left behind being found by someone and it being a salve for their soul. I know that is what Blessed Father Peter would want and what the Holy Spirit would seek. So, I recommend this book for anyone who is longing for the Church the father's founded. It is easy to read and a true testimony.

The Scent of Holiness, is one of my favourites. I cannot put it down. It is truly inspiring and especially valuable to know how our Orthodox nuns live.

If your planning to visit a monastery, this is the book to read. It will prepare you. Even if your not visiting a monastery, it is something that needs to be read.

I love how Presvitera Constantina has captured the daily life of an orthodox monastery. It is written with simplicity and honestly, so the reader can understand more easily, which is why I like this book. When you read it you know its genuine.

The chapters are little prayer ropes.

I mostly loved the funny things that are written, it made me smile. She gets into some innocent adventures :)

I have and will continue to recommend this to my friends!

I hope she writes another book soon!

I would recommend all who are seeking a deeper spiritual walk with the Lord read this book. It explains why the modern Protestant movement does not fulfill the deep in built desire of mankind to know the Creator. Being one who is on this journey I found it a very reassuring read and an easy way to explain to others why I chose the path I am on. I use it to help others who are seeking the Lord's face see the path that will bring them to the goal they seek.

Many reviewers have stated that this book is a great book for anyone to read, but they didn't always point out why. Certainly if you have friends or family who are LGBT, this book is important to read. However this is a book on "human" sexuality. It will help you understand your own sexuality, no matter if you are married, single, celibate, non-celibate, etc. It is difficult to find such a well thought out, compassion and helpful (let alone short) book by such an experienced and authoritative source (such as Father Hopko) on human sexuality. Please take advantage of this book; it will help you in understanding yourself. Knowledge of self is a great place to start your path forward towards God.

Fr. Farley does a good job of explaining difficult passages and this book is among the most difficult to explain. You'll understand the poor theology surrounding Rapture Theology when you read this book.