Essential Orthodox books for my personal library?

[Theodora Elizabeth]

Figured I'd ask some advise on which Orthodox books I should have in my personal library...

I have:
The Orthodox Church, by Ware (1997 edition, but I found a used copy of the 1963 original edition on-line and ordered it)
The Spiritual Life and How to be Attuned to it, by St. Theophan the Recluse
Various Church Fathers (mostly volumes of the Popular Patristics Series from SVS Press)
The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox, edited by Joanna Manley
Grace for Grace: The Holy Fathers and the Psalter, edited by Joanna Manley
Journey to Heave, by St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (ordered)
KJV Bible
Orthodox Study Bible
New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, expanded edition (RSV)
and various other books I can't remember off the top of my head...

The two-volume set of the Prolgue by St. Nikolai is my next purchase. I'd appreciate any and all suggestions. Just remember - they have to be in English translation, since I am foreign language-less!

Thanks,
Theodora Elizabeth

[Daniel]

God's Revelation to the Human Heart is really good. It's a printed speech of Fr. Seraphim Rose. I really liked Letters from Fr. Seraphim as well.

[尼古拉前执事]

May I be so bold as to suggest the books listed on out portal page?

[Justin2]

I would definitely recommend The Wonder Worker (about Saint John Maximovitch), Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos [/u[/u]](Vol. I and II) and Father Arseny 1893-1973. I bought The Spiritual Life on recommendation from my Spiritual Father, but it was too hard for me to get into at times, and I still haven't finished it (this was some time ago). Sometimes it reads like a thesis

[Daniel]

... Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos [/u[/u]](Vol. I and II)

I second this...and also suggest Monastic Wisdom. It has writings/letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast.

[romiosini]

Lord Have Mercy!

[Justin Kissel]

Theodora Elizabeth,

Sounds like you have some very good books already I enjoyed Journey to Heaven very much, and it is one of my wife's favorite books. I don't know if I could advise someone as to which books to have in their library, but I'll at least post what books I've found helpful, informative and edifying over the last few years...

• The Collected Works of Georges Florovsky: Volume 1, Bible, Church, Tradition -- An insightful look into how the Church views tradition. Probably the best book on the subject in English (though Scripture and Tradition by Archbp. Chrysostomos and Bp. Auxentios is also very good).

• Pillars of Orthodoxy by Holy Apostles Convent -- A wonderful book that gives some details on the struggles of Sts. Photius the Great, Gregory Palamas, and Mark of Ephesus in defending the Orthodox faith. Also has some history and apologetics thrown in.

• Orthodox Faith and Life in Christ by Saint Justin Popovich -- Has a number of fantastic essays, on everything from education to epistemology.

• The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism by Saint Justin Popovich -- The first part of the book is the best summation of Orthodox ecclesiology I've yet read, while the second part of the book has a few essays related to humanism and ecumenism.

• Deification in Christ: Orthodox Perspectives on the Nature of the Human Person by Panayiotis Nellas -- A terrific overview of Orthodox anthropology (which is something of an ignored subject, though it is central to understanding the Orthodox position on other subjects).

• The Sayings of the Desert Fathers by Benedicta Ward -- Filled to the brim with spiritual insights from the Desert Fathers.

Regarding the Church Fathers, if I had to list my favorites, I would say 1) Anything by St. Gregory the Theologian, 2) The Homilies on Matthew by St. John Chrysostom, and 3) The Commonitory by St. Vincent of Lerins. (btw, if you didn't know, and don't mind reading online--or printing long documents out--almost all of this patristic material is available for free at various websites around the internet, such as CCEL.)