Books that save the soul... (Favorite Orthodox books)
Books that save the soul... (Favorite Orthodox books)
Previously, I have already posted a list of the best Russian action books about special forces and intelligence.
Lately I have been feeling guilty: I recommended interesting books, but there are books that are much more spiritually important. After all, frankly speaking, I read very few action books these days. My main focus today is on books of spiritual content, which contain answers to the most important questions about the existence of the world and man
.
Only Orthodoxy, in my opinion, is the bearer of Divine truth, therefore, I can recommend with a clear conscience only books by generally recognized Orthodox authors to everyone for the salvation of the soul.
When I thought about this list, I realized that it was necessary to distinguish between readers who were taking their first steps in learning Orthodox truths and those who had already passed this stage. I consider myself still a beginner. And in this regard, of course, I doubted whether I had the right to offer something. But just as, according to the Lord, every sick person needs a doctor, so every sick person probably has the right to share the joy of reading saving books that can help someone else. I tried to collect books of different levels, based on spiritual benefit and my own worldview. I am not imposing this list of mine on anyone. It does not claim any kind of universality. I fully understand its incompleteness, but since people sometimes ask me for advice: what spiritual books to read, this is exactly what I myself have read and what I recommend. Let everyone choose what is closer and more saving to them. Start with what your soul, your conscience, your heart responds to.
FIRST.
The foundation of Christianity is the Gospel (Good News), i.e. The New Covenant of God with man. This is the Bible, Holy Scripture
.
This is the very first, most important thing. A person who wants to comprehend the foundations of Orthodoxy should begin with this. And only after studying the New Testament, move on to the Old. (Those who start with the Old often do not have time to get to the most important thing and, encountering difficulties in understanding, stop reading). An Orthodox Christian needs to read the New Testament constantly. And how amazing it is how again and again you discover new things in what seems to be a long-known text. Such is the power of Divine Revelation.
SECOND
-
these are the holy fathers
.
This is Sacred Tradition
.
It is this that will teach us to correctly understand the Holy Scriptures. Protestants do not understand this at all and Catholics understand it very superficially. I am convinced: only by deeply studying the understanding of various provisions of the Gospel by the holy fathers can one understand the meaning of Christianity. Only then - everything else. The advice of the Holy Fathers on salvation is truly priceless
. It is advisable to read the books of the New Testament, as well as the works of the holy fathers, after praying.
If the text of the New Testament today is easily accessible, known to everyone and not very large in size, then the writings of the Holy Fathers are numerous and extensive. What to focus on first? And here my answer is clear.
The best works of the holy fathers are collected in the Philokalia
, a multi-volume publication that can be purchased or downloaded for free.
“Philokalia”
(Greek: Φιλοκαλία - “Philokalia”) is a collection of spiritual works by Orthodox authors of the 4th-15th centuries.
Most of the texts belong to the tradition of hesychasm. The collection was compiled by Macarius Notaras, Metropolitan of Corinth and Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, and was first published in Greek in 1782. Let me remind you of the names of the great saints whose works are included in the collection: St. Anthony the Great, St. Macarius the Great, St. Isaiah the Hermit, St. Mark the Ascetic, Abba Evagrius, St. Theodore the Studite, St. John Cassian the Roman, St. Hesychius, Presbyter of Jerusalem, St. Nile of Sinai, Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Saint John Climacus, Holy Reverend Fathers Barsanuphius and John, Saint Abba Dorotheus, Saint Isaac the Syrian, Saint Simeon the New Theologian, Saint Niketas Stiphatus, Theoliptus, Metropolitan of Philadelphia, Saint Gregory the Sinaite, Nikephoros the Solitary, Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica , Kallistus Patriarch and his companion Ignatius Xanthopoulos, Blessed Simeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, St. Peter of Damascus, St. Callistus Kataphigiot, Diadochos of Photiki, Bishop of Photiki in Epirus of Illyria, St. John of Carpathus, Blessed Abba Zosima (Palestinian), St. Maximus the Confessor, Blessed Abba Thalassius , Saint Theodore, Bishop of Edessa, Saint Theodore, Saint John of Damascus, Saint Abba Philemon, Saint Theognostus, Saint Philotheus of Sinai, Elijah the Presbyter and Ekdik, Simeon Metaphrastus.
This famous collection was translated into Russian by Saint Paisius Velichkovsky, and later by Saint Theophan the Recluse. There is also an audio version of “The Philokalia” (https://azbyka.ru/audio/dobro.html). Excerpts are contained in the “Philokalia for the Laity”
, but, in my opinion, this is too truncated reading.
Another unconditional selection of works and instructions of the Holy Fathers are Fatherland,
Patericon (many know that “pater” is translated from Greek as “father”) and Prologues
.
I recommend " Otechnik"
, compiled by St.
Father Ignatius Brianchaninov
, as well as “
Skete Patericon”, “Ancient Patericon”, “Athos Patericon”
, which is also easy to find on the Internet. For example, here is this link: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Zhitija_svjatykh
I really love Otechniki. Russian Patericon are especially interesting because they allow us to get to know our holy fathers better ( Kievo-Pechersk Patericon, Solovetsky Patericon, Russian Athos Patericon, Optina Patericon
and others).
These books are quite accessible and very informative. About the Holy Fathers of antiquity, their insight, and soul-saving advice, you can read the books of Blessed John Moschus “The Spiritual Meadow.
Limonar or Sinai Patericon", Bishop Palladius of Elenopol "Lavsaik, or the story of the life of the saints and blessed fathers
."
But there are also famous writers among the holy fathers, whose works should be paid attention to (partially these works are included in the Philokalia
).
These are the great saints Anthony the Great
,
Macarius the Great
,
John Chrysostom, Isaac the Syrian, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and others.
Their books deserve the highest praise.
There is a lot to be said about each of them. Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom: An Anthology of Patristic Thought”
has been published in Russia This anthology has collected the soul-helping words of the holy fathers who lived from the 2nd to the 19th centuries.
It is compiled from samples from the works of 64 holy fathers and 30 patericons, selected according to thematic sections in alphabetical order. The anthology of patristic thought contains about 386 topics
that contain both purely theological problems and problems relating to the structure of a person’s life, the salvation of his soul, moral issues, as well as problems of family, piety, raising children, everyday life and others.
Such books can be read endlessly. All 12 volumes can be found on the Internet. Among the great Orthodox books, one cannot fail to mention the work of St. John Climacus “The Ladder”
.
I will also name a work that many Christians love for its combination of accessibility and depth: Abba Dorotheus, “Soulful Teachings.”
Among the saints of later times, the works of two residents of Holy Mount Athos are rightfully very popular:
St. Nicodemus the Svyatogorets (1749-1809) (“Invisible Warfare”)
and our contemporary
Paisius the Svyatogorets (1924 – 1994) (“With pain and love about modern man ", "Spiritual Awakening", "Family Life" and "Passion and Virtues", "Spiritual Struggle").
I recommend about the Athonite fathers
Today, the most convenient online library of Orthodox and Christian literature is, perhaps, the library of the literary portal “Predaniye.ru”
: https://predanie.ru/lib/
The library is very extensive, books can be downloaded in versions for various reading devices and can be easily read from the screen, the texts are in good condition. Something is told about each book and each author - sometimes it is a short summary, but sometimes it is a rather informative story, in which links can be given to entire works in this library dedicated to a given author or book. There are many other advantages, for example, a “random quote” with a portrait of the author, which appears in the top field every time: all quotes are interesting, many are unexpected. But the most important “additional plus”, which for the library’s creators themselves constitutes its main goal, is that this Orthodox portal itself is charitable, and with the help of a high-quality library they try to attract people to participate in good deeds and help those in need.
The most popular Orthodox portal “ Orthodoxy and the world”
"also created his own quite extensive library, which is positioned as "the largest library of patristic literature and books of modern theologians": https://lib.pravmir.ru/
Unfortunately, searching in this library is less convenient, and the quality of processing and presentation of books is lower than in the Predaniya.ru library (the library was created not so long ago, and typos and technical errors have not yet been corrected in some source texts).
The Library of the Holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church is good
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/
This is part of the portal “Orthodox Encyclopedia “ABC of Faith””, sometimes it is most convenient to search for books from the main page of this portal: https://azbyka.ru/
There are many other libraries of Orthodox literature and general libraries on the network where such literature is presented, as well as specialized libraries of theological literature - “the road can be mastered by those who walk.” We have given the addresses of the three most universal and extensive ones, and then the road will be mastered by those who walk.
The network also contains the Orthodox Encyclopedia
- “one of the most complete bodies of knowledge on Orthodoxy and the history of religion.” On the site you can currently read Encyclopedia articles only up to the letter “I”, but it is constantly being replenished and updated (including corrections and additions to articles already published in the encyclopedia volumes): https://www.pravenc.ru/
