By Phoebe Farag Mikhail

Many Western Christians and some Orthodox Christians have already begun their Advent Fast in preparation for the Nativity. This week, Orthodox Christians on the Julian Calendar (or the “old calendar”) will start our Advent Fast. Like the Great Lent, it is a season of prayer, fasting, and spiritual growth. And while there are many Advent resources from the Western tradition, there are fewer from the Orthodox one. This is mainly because the Feast of the Resurrection is the central Feast in the Orthodox Church. In addition, the Western churches started celebrating Nativity separately from Epiphany before the Eastern churches did. Nonetheless, the Nativity is a Major Feast in the Orthodox Church, and the Advent fast is a wonderful opportunity to grow.

One of my readers requested some Orthodox Christian Advent reading recommendations, and after I shared them with him, I decided to go ahead and put up the list on my blog for other inquiring readers. These include early Christian writings, sermons, and devotionals. I will continue to add more books to this list as I read and come across more.

On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius of Alexandria

This fourth century classic deserves to be reread every Advent and every Lent. It’s not very long, and it explains the Orthodox Christian understanding of the incarnation of Christ and our salvation very clearly and succinctly, with apt metaphors and colorful images. I love this analogy, comparing Christ’s incarnation with a king’s visit to a city, which I quoted in my book:

You know how it is when some great king enters a large city and dwells in one of its houses; because of his dwelling in that single house, the whole city is honored, and enemies and robbers cease to molest it. Even so is it with the King of all; He has come into our country and dwelt in one body amidst the many, and in consequence the designs of the enemy against mankind have been foiled and the corruption of death, which formerly held them in its power, has simply ceased to be.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, 2.9

While the text of On the Incarnation is available for free on pages 249-333 in this volume on St. Athanasius in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers  edited by Philip Schaff, the edition published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, translated by Fr. John Behr, is much more readable and even includes a wonderful and often quoted preface by C.S. Lewis. You can purchase it from SVS Press here, Indiebound here (affiliate link), and Amazon here (affiliate link).

The Scandal of the Incarnation by St. Irenaeus of Lyons

This book contains St. Irenaeus’ apologetic writings “Against Heresies” from the second century. In it he defends the Incarnation of Christ against the Gnostics. Because the Gnostics focused on the “spiritual” and a low view of the body, their belief was that Christ only appeared in the flesh, but was not actually real and did not truly suffer. To this St. Irenaeus answers:

If He did not really suffer, no gratitude is due to Him, since there was no Passion. And when He tells us, in our real sufferings, to endure the blows and to turn the other cheek, it will look like deception if He Himself has not suffered this in reality first.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, III 18, 5-6

Thus, Christ cannot ask us to endure suffering if He Himself did not suffer in the flesh. While Against Heresies is also available online for free on this website, the translation edited by Hans Urs von Balthasar and published by Ignatius Press is more readable, and also includes notes about the historical context and the heresies St. Irenaeus was responding to. You can purchase it from Ignatius Press here, Bookshop here (affiliate link) Indiebound here (affiliate link), and Amazon here (affiliate link).

The Sunday Gospels of Kiahk by Fr. John Paul Abdelsayed (Bishop Kyrillos)

In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the four Sunday Gospels of the Advent season (the Coptic month of Kiahk) are drawn from the first two chapters of the Gospel According to Saint Luke. The Sunday Gospels of Kiahk is a part of the Treasures of the Fathers of the Church series and provides Patristic commentary on each of these Gospel readings from many different Church Fathers, making it a wonderful resource for meditating on the Advent and Nativity narratives. The Fathers include St. Irenaeus, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Athanasius, St. John Chrysostom, Origen, and more. It was compiled by Fr. John Paul Abdelsayed, who is now Bishop Kyrillos, Auxiliary Bishop in the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, serving as the head of the Christian Education Dept. and Dean of St. Athanasius & St. Cyril Coptic Orthodox Theological School. Purchase on Amazon here (affiliate link).

Nativity and Me by Fr. Bishoy Kamel

I’m running a giveaway for this book right now as part of my holiday gift list for 2019. This past weekend, Tasony Angel, the wife of Fr. Bishoy Kamel of blessed memory, reposed in the Lord at age 89. This book is a wonderful collection of her husband’s sermons on the Advent, Nativity and Epiphany seasons, translated from the original Arabic. The focus of the sermons is on the meaning of each of these seasons for each of us personally. Consider these words on Christ’s Incarnation:

Its timeline is the Virgin’s Annunciation and the Divine pregnancy, for me, it is going through Baptism … Many of us hear about Baptism as just a memory, but actually, it is the beginning of my birth in the Spirit, it is the Divine Annunciation for me that I became a heavenly citizen, it is the start of my membership in the Body of Christ forever! Thus, Baptism Started its timeline in my life, is still going on and will never stop.

Fr. Bishoy Kamel, Nativity and Me

Read more about the giveaway on that blog post here. Purchase on St. Shenouda Press, Bookshop (affiliate link), IndieBound (affiliate link), Amazon (affiliate link).

Born Crucified by His Grace Bishop Moussa

This lovely little booklet by Bishop Moussa, Bishop of Youth is a beautiful overview of the Nativity from the perspective of how many ways Christ humbled Himself and suffered for us from the moment of His Incarnation to His Crucifixion. He draws from Scripture and the Fathers to walk through the life of Christ and demonstrate the many ways He suffered for us.

Our Lord led a very simple everyday life: Simple in His food, His clothing, in his association with the Gentiles and sinners. He used to visit Martha, Mary and Lazarus. His disciples consisted of fishermen and the poor. Yes, He became poor, He Who is rich in His Divinity, rich in His godliness, and rich in His creation!

Bishop Moussa, Born Crucified

You can download this book directly as a PDF by clicking this link.

Love Took Flesh: Nativity Letters by Fr. Matthew the Poor (Abouna Matta el-Meskeen)

This book is a collection of letters about the Nativity by the late Fr. Matthew the Poor (1919-2006), abbot of St. Macarius the Great’s Monastery in Egypt. They are drawn from a larger compilation of correspondence with the monks of his monastery, and have recently been translated into English and published by the Monastery. The volume is deceptively brief, and so is each letter, making it excellent and joyful devotional reading for the Advent Fast. Consider this beautiful passage:

Peace has just been planted in the very core of the earth. The joy of the Spirit has suddenly spring forth amidst the thorns of sorrows. Those who do not wish to believe what is written, let them come to us to believe what is seen. Let them place the finger of doubt on the wound of sin; let them feel the pulses of grace instead of the stirrings of sin and hear God’s hear beating beneath the sound of their own amazement.

Fr. Matthew the Poor, Love took Flesh

You can purchase this book on Amazon in both print and ebook versions (affiliate links).

Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church by Phoebe Farag Mikhail

My book opens with a scene from the feast of the Resurrection, yet there is plenty in there to consider for the Advent season! The coming of Christ is indeed “Joy to the World” because He is Emmanuel, he is God with us, and in His presence is fullness of joy. In this book I write about seven practices that help re-orient us to receive the joy that comes from God and His presence. One of those practices, hospitality, is quite fitting for the Advent season:

The Theotokos’s acceptance of the will of God at the Annunciation birthed more acts of hospitality, and with every act, joy. Upon learning of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Mary, pregnant herself, travels to her home to serve her. When she arrives, Elizabeth tells her, “As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44, NRSV). Everywhere Christ is present there is joy, even when he was in the womb of his mother. And thus, in the very definition of hospitality in Christianity, opening the doors of our homes to others means opening our doors to God himself.

Phoebe Farag Mikhail, Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church

Purchase on Paraclete Press, Bookshop (affiliate link), IndieBound (affiliate link), Kindle ebook (affiliate link), Amazon (hard copy).

Mary As the Early Christians Knew Her: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts by Frederica Mathews-Green

You can’t talk about the Incarnation of Christ without talking about the Mother of God, and this book by one of my favorite Eastern Orthodox authors, Frederica Mathews-Green, is a great way to get acquainted with St. Mary the way the early Christians knew her. She offers explanations and translations of three ancient texts: the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal work that does contain some important historical information about St. Mary, especially her childhood; a short prayer found on papyrus in Egypt in 250 and the earliest known prayer to Mary: “Under thy compassion we take refuge, Theotokos [Birthgiver-of-God]; do not disregard our prayers in the midst of tribulation, but deliver us from danger, O Only Pure, Only Blessed One”; and an Eastern Orthodox hymn penned in 475 by St. Romanos. This book has also been published under the title The Lost Gospel of Mary, and this month this book is on sale as an ebook for $1.99 so grab that offer while you can here. Purchase from Paraclete Press here, Bookshop here (affiliate link), Indiebound here (affiliate link), and Amazon here (affiliate link).

Welcoming the Christ Child: Family Readings for the Nativity Lent by Elissa Bjelitich

This is a highly popular 40 day family devotional that is often also sold with an ornament set. It includes forty stories from Scripture that point to the Birth of Christ, includes the stories of Joachim and Anna, and is beautifully illustrated. I’ve read this book with my children during the Advent season, and will probably repeat this tradition for many years to come.

The ebook version can be purchased on Amazon here (affiliate link).

Under the Laurel Tree: Grieving Infertility with Saints Joachim and Anna by Nicole Roccas

A book about infertility might seem a little unusual on an Advent reading list, but the way Dr. Roccas approaches it through her meditation on the lives of Sts. Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Mother of God St. Mary and the grandparents of our Lord Jesus Christ, makes it a worthy read for everyone. You can read my full review of this book on Goodreads here, and a guest post on this blog about it by Nicole Roccas here. Western culture has made the season approaching Nativity a very child-centric holiday, making it a particularly painful time for those families that are struggling with infertility. This book is helpful for both those who are struggling, and those who want to be good friends with those who struggle. This is a passage about St. Joachim that I have read and reread:

As we keep watch with Joachim, it slowly dawns on us that somehow,this was all part of the plan. To be able to stand face to face with God and his wife, Joachim needed to fully bear the cross he had been given: to travel the full journey of grief and behold the grim specter of childlessness and death—not to mention the even grimmer specter of his unworthiness. Just as Jacob wrestled with the angel, Joachim needed to wrestle with God, with himself, with the life he’d been given. Maybe it took all that prayer and fasting in the desert, all that groping toward synergy with God, to finally bear the Theotokos out of the sin-scorched hull of Israel.

Nicole Roccas, Under the Laurel Tree: Grieving Infertility with Saints Joachim and Anna

You can purchase Under the Laurel Tree from Ancient Faith Press, on Amazon (affiliate link), on Kindle (affiliate link), and on Audible (affiliate link).

What are you reading this Advent? Share your books in the comments below, and may you enjoy a blessed Advent season!

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