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Dear Parish Faithful,
"The human person is an animal with the command to become like God." - St. Basil the Great
This last Saturday, January 30, we commemorated The Three Hierarchs - Sts. Basil the Great (+379), Gregory of Nazianzus (+390), and John Chrysostom (+407). Outside of the Scriptures, these 4th c. theologians/pastors are three of the great Founding Fathers of our Orthodox Christian theological legacy. They truly shaped it in a way that remains normative to this day. The link immediately below is to a short summary of how this feast developed in the late 11th - early 12th century.
In addition, I would like to encourage everyone to read one or more of their works. Their style is quite accessible. They are free of all academic jargon for the simple reason that they were not academics holding a chair in this or that university. They were bishops/pastors guiding their respective flocks in the late 4th and early 5th century Christian world. I have therefore put together a series of links to SVS Press and its editions from the Popular Patristic Series of some of the most prominent of the written works of these Fathers. (And they are relatively inexpensive). Some are treatises, others are collections of their homilies that spanned their lifetimes. All of it is very good.
As we are getting close to the pre-lenten season, perhaps here is a good book or two for Great Lent. As put aside our iPhones and TV sets during Great Lent to some extent, at least, here is a good way to "redeem the time" in reading solid Orthodox literature.
If anyone is actually interested, and would like a recommendation or guide in choosing one or more of these titles, please contact me.
St. Basil the Great -
On Social Justice - Social justice with a clear and definite Gospel foundation.
On the Human Condition - Great essays on what it means to be human from a theological perspective.
On Fasting and Feasts - Wonderful homilies on a variety of themes that still engage us within the Church today.
On The Holy Spirit - An absolute classic that ranks with On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius. Biblical interpretation (exegesis) at its dazzling best.
On Christian Doctrine and Practice - A series of treatises covering a wide-range of theological and practical concerns.
On Christian Ethics - A great antidote to humanistic, autonomous ethics.
St. Gregory the Theologian
On God and Christ, The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius - Again, absolute classics that defend and describe the Holy Trinity. Unmatched.
On God and Man: The Theological Poetry of St. Gregory of Nazianzus - Poetic theology that is free of sentimentalism.
Festal Orations - Another great collection of homilies from one of the greatest Christian rhetoricians off all time.
St. John Chrysostom
On Wealth and Poverty (2nd Ed.) - A "must-read" collection of six homilies on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Opens the mind and heart to Christian charity.
The Cult of the Saints - Great homilies on a theme that still perplexes some Christians.
On Marriage and Family Life - Although written in the 4th c., this still contains some real gems of insight to married Christians raising families.
- Fr. Steven
