Monday, April 30, 2007
The Holy Fire: The Fathers of the Eastern Church
Our Sunday night group just finished this book last night with the last chapter painting St. Gregory Palamas. The text is an incredible series of earthy, raw, and inspiring vignettes treating the Fathers from Clement to Palamas. The author, Robert Payne, an Anglican churchmen and adept master of word and pen, concludes the book thusly:
So they pass before us, the gentle Clement, the stern Origen, the steel-hard Athanasius, the three great Cappadocian Fathers somehow combining into a single figure, fulfilling one another, then the golden stream pouring from the mouth of Chrysostom, and afterward the dark cell where Dionysius the Areopagite stands before the beckoning light; dark-faced John Damascene in his eagle's eyrie; Gregory Palamas striding across the marble floors of the palaces of Constantinople, then vanishing to Mount Athos, the eternal repetition of the Name of Jesus and the ceaseless vigil before the Light of the Transfiguration; and as we watch them, all of them seem to be bathed in the blinding light that shone on Mount Tabor.
To these Fathers is due a portion of the glory in raising the habitations of God; and to them we owe, more than we can guess or ever repay, the strength of our faith.
Though you may not be able to fully see it in the text that has been quoted, the wonder of this book is Payne's gift of making their humanness more human while clarifying for the reader who may be asking, "What exactly does a holy life look like?" Make no mistake, they each lived their lives on an unimaginable scale, but Payne is still able to coax out the individual from the midst of such unfathomable times and places. For me, my affection for the Fathers has grown tremendously, to the point that seeing and venerating them in icons is much more akin to kissing my priest or bishop's right hand. A real love has been kindled for them in my heart.
Sadly, the text is now out of print, though there are copies to found in the used section. It was first printed in 1957 and has seen many subsequent pressings. St. Vlad's did a printing or two with an invaluable introduction from Fr. Thomas Hopko. For reference or cover to cover reading, this book is worth the small effort involved in obtaining a copy.
Our Sunday night group just finished this book last night with the last chapter painting St. Gregory Palamas. The text is an incredible series of earthy, raw, and inspiring vignettes treating the Fathers from Clement to Palamas. The author, Robert Payne, an Anglican churchmen and adept master of word and pen, concludes the book thusly:
So they pass before us, the gentle Clement, the stern Origen, the steel-hard Athanasius, the three great Cappadocian Fathers somehow combining into a single figure, fulfilling one another, then the golden stream pouring from the mouth of Chrysostom, and afterward the dark cell where Dionysius the Areopagite stands before the beckoning light; dark-faced John Damascene in his eagle's eyrie; Gregory Palamas striding across the marble floors of the palaces of Constantinople, then vanishing to Mount Athos, the eternal repetition of the Name of Jesus and the ceaseless vigil before the Light of the Transfiguration; and as we watch them, all of them seem to be bathed in the blinding light that shone on Mount Tabor.
To these Fathers is due a portion of the glory in raising the habitations of God; and to them we owe, more than we can guess or ever repay, the strength of our faith.
Though you may not be able to fully see it in the text that has been quoted, the wonder of this book is Payne's gift of making their humanness more human while clarifying for the reader who may be asking, "What exactly does a holy life look like?" Make no mistake, they each lived their lives on an unimaginable scale, but Payne is still able to coax out the individual from the midst of such unfathomable times and places. For me, my affection for the Fathers has grown tremendously, to the point that seeing and venerating them in icons is much more akin to kissing my priest or bishop's right hand. A real love has been kindled for them in my heart.
Sadly, the text is now out of print, though there are copies to found in the used section. It was first printed in 1957 and has seen many subsequent pressings. St. Vlad's did a printing or two with an invaluable introduction from Fr. Thomas Hopko. For reference or cover to cover reading, this book is worth the small effort involved in obtaining a copy.
Comments:
kurt's been on a book-buying binge lately. methinks maybe my turn has just surfaced...
thanks for this.
thanks for this.
You can purchase this book as a, "This book is for both of us" purchase, and then it doesn't count as one for you!
No, unfortunately when I called them several months back they had no plans for a reprinting in the near future either. Really too bad, the Fr. Hopko intro is insightful. If you like I can mail you a copy of it when your book arrives.
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