Start building your Orthodox library today. Many of the books in this list—and more to deepen your faith—are available at Uncut Mountain Press.​

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As an affiliate of Uncut Mountain Press, we provide hyperlinks below to help you easily find these books.

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HOLY SCRIPTURE 

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What Bible version do we recommend? 

Answer: We recommend two Bibles determined by the purpose for which they will be used. 

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1. Readings during prayer: For readings during prayer, we prefer the Authorized Text or King James Version (KJV): a) with “Deuterocanonical Books” and b) not a study bible. 

   • The Church’s position is that full Scripture includes the “Deuterocanon” or “Apocrypha.” Historically, these names were invented to distinguish books the heretics found problematic. With this label, it allowed them to eventually exclude them. The Orthodox Church did not participate in that history and has decided these so called books are considered to be fully Scriptural. 

   • When at prayer, the importance of reading the Scripture is for them to penetrate and soften our hearts, to let the grace of God be communicated to us through the words. Study notes are a distraction from this. We read the Scriptures, at the time of prayer, not for rational understanding, but for a theoria to be given by God. 

2. For Study: For Scriptural study, we recommend the New Testament by Holy Apostles Convent in Buena Vista, CO. which: a) is their own translation and b) has patristic commentary. However, c) the most important commentary you can have for Scriptural study is commentary from the Holy Fathers. 

   • The translation is their own and a very rigid literal translation from the Greek, which helps the non-Greek speaker get a better sense of the literal meanings. 

   • Their editions also have a good collection of patristic commentary. Every book of the Bible has patristic quotations for every few verses, thus providing generous patristic readings to go with every book of the New Testament. 

   • Many Holy Fathers have commented on many books and under “Lives of Saints, their writings, the spiritual life, other topics” is a list to get started. One will find the Holy Fathers constantly interpreting Scripture for the faithful throughout their writings. However, far more often than not Scripture interpretation is in its liturgical context or in letters to contemporaries. 

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READING LIST 

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1. Basic Information, Historical Background, and Testimonies 

2. Catechisms 

3. Lives of Saints, their writings, the spiritual life, other topics 

4. Asceticism 

5. Before Seminary 

 

The first “Basic Information, Historical Background, and Testimonies” is for the newcomer or inquirer who wants broad overviews and honestly just basic information. 

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The second is “Catechisms” for the catechumen who recognizes the relationship with the Church is growing deeper and needs more substance to understand what the Church expects of a catechumen. 

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The third “Lives of Saints, their writings, the spiritual life, other topics” is also important for inquirers and catechumens but also valuable immediately after the first category of general information no longer satisfies one’s hunger for Holy Orthodoxy. It introduces the Saints in more detail and begins greater level of patristic exposure.

 

The fourth “Asceticism” comes after great familiarity with the above books (while continuing in the Scriptures and maybe also some of the books repeated in this section), with a blessing from a spiritual father to read them (to protect against the type of asceticism characterized by deadly pride and delusion). St. Joseph the Hesychast (this list is based on the collection of his letters, Monastic Wisdom) was familiar with these writings. They have been beloved for centuries by monastics and all Christians serious about the spiritual life. They are sure guides in our struggle for salvation and should be read with much prayer again and again. 

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The fifth “Before Seminary” is for those who are surely prepared for the great struggle at seminary and have a blessing from one’s spiritual father to enroll. In that case, these books are essential to read first. Why? Seminary is based on an academic model while true Christian life is based on prayer. Therefore, seminary may become a distraction or even a temptation for correct advancement in the spiritual life. Those who embrace the academic over the ascetical invent many criteria and interpretive keys which are at odds with the Holy Fathers, harming students and the Church at large. Not only the mind (phronema) of the Holy Fathers, but tasting their life (a developed Orthodox ethos) must be the presuppositions for a student to safely pass through seminary. The most important texts for this list are indicated by asterisks (*). 

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BASIC INFORMATION, HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, & TESTIMONIES 

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• The Way of the Pilgrim (SAGOM Press) 

• The Apostolic Fathers (Michael W. Holmes, ed.) 

• The Divine Liturgy: A Commentary in the Light of the Fathers (Hieromonk Gregorios) 

• Christology (St. Nektarios of Aegina) 

• Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God (St. John of San Francisco) 

• God’s Revelation to the Human Heart (Fr. Seraphim Rose) 

• Synodicon of Orthodoxy 

• Background in Catholicism: 

  • Catholicism in the Light of Orthodoxy (Archimandrite George of Grigoriou) 

  • The Papacy (Abbe Guettée) 

  • My Exodus from Roman Catholicism (Bishop Paul de Ballester) 

  • The Church and the Pope (Robert Spencer) 

  • Franks, Romans, Feudalism, and Doctrine (Fr. John Romanides) 

• Background in Protestantism: 

  • Becoming Orthodox (Fr. Peter Gilquist) 

  • Rock and Sand (Fr. Josiah Trenham) 

• Basic texts for any background (including no Christian background): 

  • The Truth of Our Faith, Volumes 1 & 2 (Elder Cleopa of Romania) 

  • Know the Faith (Fr. Michael Shanbour) 

  • Our Orthodox Christian Faith (Athanasios S. Frangopoulos) 

• The History of the Church (Eusebius of Caesarea) 

• The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy (Fr. Alexander Schmemann) 

• From Tibet to Mount Athos to Elder Paisius (Yanni Kotzampasis) 

• Practical Guide or Orthodoxy and Orthopraxia (Priest Michael) 

• Booklets and Articles: 

  • A Wonderful Revelation to the World: Conversation of St. Seraphim of Sarov with Nicholas Motovilov 

  • Picture of the Modern World (Met. Hierotheos Vlachos) 

  • The Life in Christ (Fr. John Romanides) 

  • Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life (Archimandrite George of Grigoriou) 

  • Christianity or the Church (St. Hilarion Troitsky) 

  • Holy Scripture and the Church (St. Hilarion Troitsky) 

  • Tradition in the Church (Fr. Lazarus Moore) 

 

CATECHISMS 

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• Catechetical Lectures (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery Press, or SAGOM Press) 

• Baptismal Instructions (St. John Chrysostom, SAGOM Press) 

• The Wisdom of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus (Old Testament) 

• An Indication of the Path into the Kingdom of God (St. Innocent of Alaska) 

• Entering the Orthodox Church: (Met. Hierotheos Vlachos) 

• The Precious Pearl (St. John of Damascus) 

• The Way: An Introduction to the Orthodox Faith (Fr. George Metallinos) 

• The Orthodox Faith, Worship, and Life (Hieromonk Gregorios) 

• The Faith of the Saints (St. Nikolai Velimirovich) 

• Orthodox Sacred Catechism (Vernardakis / Cavarnos) 

• The Law of God (Fr. Seraphim Slobodskoy) 

 

LIVES OF SAINTS, THEIR WRITINGS, THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, OTHER TOPICS 

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• Scripture Aids, Interpretations, and Context: 

  • Explanation of the Holy Gospels (Blessed Theophylact) 

  • The New Testament, Volumes 1 and 2 (Holy Apostle’s Convent) 

  • Homilies on the Epistles of St. Paul (St. John Chrysostom) 

  • Commentaries by St. Cyril of Alexandria (CUA Press) 

  • The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Archbishop Averky) 

  • Homilies on the Book of the Revelation (Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios) 

• Lives of Saints: 

  • Prologue of Ohrid (St. Nikolai Velimirovich) 

  • The Synaxarion (Hieromonk Makarios of Simonos Petra) 

  • The Great Synaxaristes (Holy Apostles Convent) 

• On the Incarnation (St. Athanasios of Alexandria) 

• On the Providence of God (St. John Chrysostom) 

• These three by Met. Hierotheos Vlachos (in order): 

  • Orthodox Spirituality 

  • The Illness and Cure of the Soul in the Orthodox Tradition 

  • A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain 

• Counsels from the Holy Mountain (Geronda Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona) 

• Noetic Prayer as the Basis of Mission and the Struggle Against Heresy (Archimandrite Ephraim Triandaphillopoulos, Uncut Mountain Press) 

• Words of the Heart (Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou) 

• Spiritual Counsels (Series of six books by St. Paisios the Athonite) 

• Wounded by Love (St. Porphyrios) 

• These three by Constantine Cavarnos (in order): 

  • o Paths and Means to Holiness 

  • o Holiness: Man’s Supreme Destiny 

  • o Man’s Spiritual Evolution 

• Nihilism (Fr. Seraphim Rose) 

• Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future (Fr. Seraphim Rose) 

• The Life of Fr. Seraphim Rose (St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood Press) 

• The Letters of Fr. Seraphim Rose (Fr. Alexy Young, editor) 

• Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (St. John of Damascus) 

• Elder Paisios of Mount Athos (Elder Isaac) 

• The Church at Prayer (Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra) 

• The Way of the Spirit (Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra) 

• Orthodox Faith and Life in Christ (St. Justin Popovich) 

• My Life in Christ (St. John of Kronstadt) 

• Saint Nektarios: the Saint of our Century (Sotos Chondropooulos) 

• An Extraordinary Peace: St. Seraphim, the Flame of Sarov (Fr. Lazarus Moore) 

• Commentary on the Divine Liturgy (St. Nicholas Cabasilas) 

• On the Mystical Life, 3 volumes (St. Symeon the New Theologian) 

• Handbook of Spiritual Counsel (St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite) 

• Concerning Frequent Communion (St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite) 

• Three Treatises on the Divine Images (St. John of Damascus) 

• The Life of St. Makrina and On Virginity (St. Gregory of Nyssa, SAGOM Press) 

• Saint Silouan the Athonite (St. Sophrony) 

• Our Thoughts Determine our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood Press) 

• The Way of the Ascetic (Tito Colliander) 

• Life of St. Anthony the Great (SAGOM Press) 

• The Unity of the Church (St. Hilarion Troitsky) 

• For the Life of the World (Fr. Alexander Schmemann) 

• On Divine Names & Mystical Theology (St. Dionysios the Areopagite, SAGOM Press) 

• Modern Orthodox Saints Series (Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies) 

• Apostle to Zaire: The Life and Legacy of Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoiou (Aslanidis/Grigoriatis) 

• The Universe as Signs and Symbols (St. Nikolai Velimirovich) 

• Poetics: 

  • Hymns of Paradise (St. Ephraim the Syrian) 

  • Hymns on Divine Love or Divine Eros (St. Symeon the New Theologian) 

  • Eschatological Hymns and Homilies (St. Ephraim the Syrian, SAGOM Press) 

 

ASCETICISM 

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• Holy Scripture 

• The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian 

• The Spiritual Homilies of St. Makarios the Egyptian 

• The Contrite Discourses of Abba Dorotheos 

• The Evergetinos 

• The Philokalia 

• The Sayings of the Desert Fathers 

• The Ladder of St. John Climacos 

• Lives of Saints 

• Way of the Pilgrim 

• Salutations (Akathist Hymn) to the Theotokos 

• Counsels from the Holy Mountain (Geronda Ephraim) 

• Saint Silouan the Athonite (St. Sophrony of Essex) 

• Athonite Lives: 

  • An Athonite Gerontikon (Priestmonk Ioannikios Kotsonis) 

  • Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos, Volumes 1 and 2 (Archimandrite Cherubim) 

  • Athonite Fathers of the 20th Century (Uncut Mountain Press) 

 

BEFORE SEMINARY 

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• The Mind of the Orthodox Church* (Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos)) 

• Patristic Theology* (Fr. John Romanides) 

• The Ancestral Sin* (Fr. John Romanides) 

• Orthodox Psychotherapy (Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos)) 

• The Science of Spiritual Medicine (Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos)) 

• St. Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite* (Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos)) 

• Orthodox Faith and Life in Christ* (St. Justin Popovich) 

• The Rudder* (St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, SAGOM Press), see book’s introduction on why this is indeed essential reading for the Orthodox Christian 

• Empirical Dogmatics*, Volumes 1 and 2 (Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos) and Father John Romanides) 

• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology (Fr. Michael Pomazansky) 

• On Common Prayer with the Heterodox According to the Canons of the Church* (Protopresbyter Anastasios Gotsopoulos) 

• Exomologetarion: A Manual of Confession (St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite) 

• The Homilies of St. Gregory Palamas (Mt. Tabor Publishing) 

• On the Mystical Life, three volumes (St. Symeon the New Theologian) 

• From Saint Sophrony of Essex (in this order): 

  • His Life is Mine 

  • On Prayer 

  • We Shall See Him As He Is 

• From St. Sophrony's disciple Archimandrite Zacharias (in this order): 

  • Christ, Our Way and Our Life 

  • The Enlargement of the Heart 

  • The Hidden Man of the Heart 

  • Remember Thy First Love 

• Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (Dr. Jean Claude Larchet) 

• The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II* (Fr. Peter Heers) 

  • The Missionary Origins of Modern Ecumenism (Fr. Peter Heers), a valuable supplement 

• Jesus Fallen?* (Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis), this one especially tackles a huge Christological heresy that is popular among mostly Western converts in academia 

• The Person in the Orthodox Tradition* (Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos))