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Mary Long's Top Picks

Siluan, and Sofroniæi. Wisdom from Mount Athos : The Writings of Starets Silouan, 1866-1938. Revised ed ed. London: Mowbrays, 1974.

This is a compilation of the writings of St. Silouan the Athonite (reposed 1938). Here you will read the words of a man who loved God and others with all his heart. Read this for godly wisdom, guidance, and inspiration.

 

Romanus, and Ephrem Lash. On the Life of Christ : Kontakia, Sacred Literature Series. San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.

This book contains the kontakia of St. Romanos the Melodist, the 5th/6th century hymnographer of the Church. I highly recommend reading the story of his life before reading his poetry and hymnography. His kontakia are basically chanted poetic sermons, and this book is a compilation of several kontakia about the life of Christ (Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman, the thief on the Cross, etc). For me, this book gave new perspective and insight into the Gospel narrative.

Staniforth, Maxwell. Early Christian Writings : The Apostolic Fathers, Penguin Classics; L197. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968.

In the early church, the epistles of such men as Ignatius and Clement were considered as part of the Christian scriptural canon. Today, they are incredibly worthwhile for us to read alongside the New Testament. This particular edition, from the Penguin series, includes several writings of the early church fathers, the martyrdom of Polycarp, and the Didache. I recommend this or any other edition containing the early fathers' writings. In addition, I also recommend the Shepherd of Hermas which can be found in many such compilations of the apostolic fathers.