All of these are available in English.
Introductions
- The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware (now Bishop Kallistos)
- Still the best overall introduction.
- The Orthodox Way by Kallistos Ware (same author)
- More emphasis on Orthodox belief and spirituality. Gets a little too speculative in places, but...
Basic Equipment
- Prayer Books
- Every Orthodox Christian needs a prayer book. Here are two excellent ones, each containing a good set of daily prayers, texts of major services, Akathists, Canons, etc.
- Prayer Book (known as the 'Jordanville Prayer Book'), published by Holy Trinity Monastery
- An English rendition of the traditional Russian prayerbook.
- A Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery
- More in the Greek tradition that the Jordanville prayerbook, though most of the material is the same.
- The Bible
- Sad to say, no English translation of the Bible is based on the Orthodox Church's text. In the New Testament, the differences are fairly small and perhaps harmless. However, the Church's Old-Testament Septuagint text differs substantially from that of Protestant (and, to a lesser extent, Roman Catholic) Bibles. The best available choice might be the Ignatius Study Bible, A Roman Catholic edition that uses the Revised Standard translation and includes most of the 'Apocrypha' in their proper places. Pray that the upcoming Orthodox Study Bible: Old Testament will help to meet the crying need for an English Orthodox Bible.
Prayer and Spirituality
- The Ascetical Homilies of St Isaac the Syrian.
- Deep, challenging, luminously beautiful. One page a day, every day, for a lifetime, would be a fine thing for every Orthodox Christian.
- The Way of the Ascetics by Tito Colliander
- Short, explosive.
- The Arena by St Ignatius Brianchaninov
- Subtitled 'An offering to contemporary monasticism' (in the 1800s!). But most of it is applicable to any Orthodox Christian seeking his salvation.
- The Philokalia, Compiled by St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain
- Five volumes, of which the last has not yet been translated into English. Pray that Bishop Kallistos, the last surviving translator, will be able to finish the job! People find it daunting, but for the wrong reasons. The content is daunting indeed, but taken in small doses it's not really difficult reading. Give it a try.
- A Spiritual Psalter, or Reflections on God, excerpted by Bishop Theophan the Recluse from the works of our Holy Father Ephraim the Syrian.
- Saint Theophan arranged 150 short passages from the works of St Ephraim into a 'Psalter' wonderfully suited to devotional reading.
- Partakers of the Divine Nature by Archimandrite Christoforos Stavropoulos
- A neglected masterpiece, in our opinion. Forcefully emphasizes the Orthodox understanding that theosis, becoming partakers of the Divine Nature, is the entire purpose of our life — and gives practical guidance for the Christian who is sincere in pursuing this goal.
- A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain by Bishop Hierotheos (Vlachos)
- Orthodox hesychasm opened up through a story of the author's visit to an elder on Mt Athos. Some say that the story is semi-fictional, and that the Athonite elder is a disguised portrait of Fr Sophrony, Bishop Hierotheos' spiritual father.
- On Prayer by Archimandrite Sophrony
- Very intense. Part of it is a spiritual biography of St (excuse me, Father) Sophrony. Among other things, he spent a few years prostrate on the floor of his Paris apartment, weeping, in repentance for having involved himself in Eastern religions.
- The Path to Salvation by St Theophan the Recluse
- Saint Theophan is notable for his ability to put the deepest teachings of Orthodox spirituality into plain language. This compilation of letters to the Saint's spiritual children is a kind of manual of Christian life.
- The Way of a Pilgrim
- A spiritual autobiography of a wandering Russian peasant who learns and practices the Jesus Prayer as he travels through Holy Russia. This may be the best-known Orthodox book. Its author is unknown; the best theory of its origin is that the 'Pilgrim' eventually came to Mt Athos, where an educated Russian monk heard and wrote down his story.
- Unseen Warfare by Lorenzo Scupoli, revised by St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St Theophan the Recluse
- A superb work on the struggle of prayer. It was originally written by a Roman Catholic priest. Saint Nikodemos, realizing its merit, revised it for Orthodox Readers. Saint Theophan did a much more extensive revision of the Athonite's edition, producing virtually a new book.
Athletes of the Faith in Our Time
- St Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony
- Through Archimandrite Sophrony's efforts, St Silouan was recognized as a Saint of the Church; someday Archimandrite Sophrony will be glorified too.
- Papa-Nicholas Planas: The Simple Shepherd of the Simple Sheep
- St Nicholas Planas (+1932) was a simple parish priest in Athens. Living in extreme poverty, he celebrated the Divine Liturgy for several hours every day and performed many miracles.
- Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father
- This account of Fr Arseny's life, ministry and miracles in Stalin's prison camps and afterward has become a deserved Orthodox 'best-seller' both in the Russia and the West.
- The Ascetic of Love by Nun Gavrilia
- A life of Mother Gavrilia (+1992), a modern-day Gerondissa and Unmercenary Healer. A beautiful, beautiful book.
- St Seraphim of Sarov: a Spiritual Biography by Archimandrite Lazarus Moore
- There are several good biographies of St Seraphim (+1833). This is the most complete.