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The Wondrous and Paradoxical Ethos of Monasticism
To become an image of Pentecost, the monk must be a worker of repentance, a man of ardent desire, and persevere in the earthquake of repentance that renews his soul. Then he will bear witness to the humble ethos of Christ which has overcome his nature. This ethos reveals the supernatural transformation he has undergone: from a divided and distorted being into a living image of the Lord Jesus.
£23.00
The Ineffable Folly of Divine Love
The angels are always mindful of their createdness: they cover their faces and their feet with four wings to preserve their humility before the Lord Who brought them from non-being into being. Although they are immortal and incorporeal beings, they never forget that they are creatures, that they are not without beginning. Therefore, it is with restrained boldness – with only two wings – that they fly around ‘the throne of the Majesty in the heavens’. Humility gives them the strength to abide in everlasting doxology before God.
£23.50
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Audiobook: Remember Thy First Love
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Total listening time: 17 hours, 3 minutes
£16.00
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I leave Archimandrite Zacharias’s The Ineffable Folly of Divine Love to last, not just because I have previously offered an extended review of two of his earlier works, and not only because of his astonishing ability to ‘invent’ such extraordinarily thought-provoking titles, but also because once again, we find pure gold-dust. He speaks, writes and reads like any one of us, but, whether with gentleness, authority, simplicity, amusement, profundity or strong challenge, whether in terms of personal anecdotes or multiple quotations from the Orthodox tradition and Liturgy, he speaks from, and to, and of another world which is our true Home. He speaks from within the heart of Christ, and he answers questions without hesitation, because he wants us to be drawn by and into The Ineffable Folly of Divine Love.
The House of Our Father is a simply stupendous work of art and prayer in itself. Profound Theological and Iconographic Texts by Archimandrite Peter, Sister Gabriela and Archimandrite Zacharias alone constitute inspired and moving meditations on the Being of the Church (building and people), and repay repeated reading; the photographic material – the ‘Colour Plates,’ the ‘Iconographic Program’ (sic), the ‘Odyssey of Techniques’ and the multiple complications and construction of everything, is simply awe-inspiring to read and pore over, both in detail and scope. The faces – the faces! – in close-up are astonishing, powerful, personal, overwhelming, humbling – not least those of the Seraphim.
I was also touched to discover (p. 17) that, of the two major inspirations for St Sophrony’s circular church, the first, the Round Church in Cambridge, was where I worshipped and heard Scripture expounded as an undergraduate; and secondly, the Rotunda in Thessaloniki was right next to the hostel when my wife Debbie and I stayed on our first visit there in 2010.
And I learnt a new word: ‘Cosmatesque,’ as in ‘the Cosmatesque Floor’ (the word derives from the Cosmati family of the 12th-13th centuries in Italy), the stunning central marbled floor area of decorative geometric inlay stonework, with its circles and squares, ‘wheels within wheels’ (as it seems) and triangles and lozenges, in an astonishing range of coloured marble. That is the one area where I would have loved more detail, not only because of the clearly intended complexity of the design (all emerging from the inspired mind of St Sophrony), but because I learnt from one of the builders that most of the stonework had been collected by Sisters scouring London scrapyards and carrying everything back in vans, ready to turn scraps into beauty! (Perhaps a small separate booklet could tell that story?! …)
The calendar – beautifully gift-wrapped, along with the books – is a daily gift of beauty: lovely photos, notes of all the major feasts and moving quotations (which incidentally help a New Testament Greek scholar read modern Greek!) all constitute a call to prayer as we enter and leave our house. September and November, in particular, strike me powerfully: ‘Christ became double for the sake of man, assuming his nature. Likewise, when man exchanges his life for the life of God he also becomes double in nature;’ and ’The word of Sacred Scripture has infinite depth and encompasses “life eternal,” yet it remains “sealed with seven seals” for those who approach it solely by the power of the mind.’
An incredible book, perfumed by the spirit of prayer. I purchased this for a colleague at work, and he said it was of such depth, that he could only read a little at a time. I’ve found with all the works of St. Sophrony they need to be contemplated slowly to be able to penetrate into the depths of his words.
This book is a timeless classic for Orthodoxy. It really speaks to the heart. If I’m ever asked questions about Orthodoxy I cannot help but think of this book. For lack of better words, the life of St Silouan shows us the goal and fruit of the Christian life.
As always, St Sophrony’s writings are pervaded with the spirit of prayer.
I’m also grateful to the monastery for the care they take when packing the orders.
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