A Year with the Church Fathers Imitation Leather – August 1, 2010

It came! A YEAR with the CHURCH FATHERS came today! I have been on the wait list and anxious for this treasure to arrive. It is a first edition! The cover is beautifully designed and has the feel of very soft leather, with gold edged pages and a satin ribbon; just like it should feel and look, as I will be using it daily to say, "God's Morning!" to St. Augustine, St. Basil or one of my other new friends.Mike Aquilina has complete instructions for how best to use this book of daily retreats with the Fathers. Mike naturally suggests a brief Prayer for guidance as we begin our meeting. There is one short comment before the meditation that lets us know why and where we are going on this one page journey. The brief meditation is taken from the classic translations of the Church Fathers. As we experience the closeness of the Lord, we will think on what this meditation means in our lives today and what we might do with this new Patristic wisdom. Sounds great, doesn't it?Personally, I want to know these men who gave so much to preserve the faith for all of us. So far, I am expecting that I will be learning from St Clement about accepting correction, Tertullian will teach me on prayer, St. Gregory the Great will help me love the Eucharist even more than I do today, St John Cassian will help me with self-control, St. John Chrysostom will counsel me on pain and illness and St. Augustine will help keep my mind focused during prayer. These are just a few of the retreat helps in A YEAR with the CHURCH FATHERS.I am thinking that one day, as I walk into the heavens and see these great Church Fathers, they will all say, "You are one of those people who knew Mike Aquilina and he told you all about us, didn't he?"A Year With The Church Fathers - Patristic Wisdom For Daily Living will be on our Christmas list for our sons and friends.

A Year with the Church Fathers - Patristic Wisdom for Daily Living, brings to us a sample of the early writings of the Church Fathers whose faith, and truths are shared with us in simple daily reflections, which we can draw upon. For example: To my surprise, I gave a talk on Saint Moses, a monk in the Forth century, who was a thief, robber and murder, but who when attacking a monastery met an abbot who was meek and mild and influenced him. St Moses eventually converted to the Coptic Church, then a branch of the Catholic Church, and though it was not an easy conversion, confessed his sins, became a monk, and through his leadership, converted many to the faith. In the book, on Day Two, I found this passage, after I returned home from the retreat, under the title, "SEE GOD EVERYWHERE", "St. John Cassian remembers how the wise old abbot Moses told him to see God everywhere. If you approach with a pure heart, the world around you will show you His face." There follows a fuller explanation on this theme, and at the end, a consideration, and closing prayer to reflect upon. Just enough to wet the appetite of the spiritual soul, and find wisdom for the day. I highly recommend this book. The leather cover, and ribbon, makes it a handsome book, and a years worth of wisdom, to enrich everyone, of all faiths, or those who seek the Truths passed down trough the ages from Christ.Pax et Bonum

Literally everything about this book is outstanding.First, it is a marvelous resource for all of those who love the Church and the Church Fathers, a daily experience of the insights these men left behind during the formative years of the Catholic Church.What subject are you interested in? Faith? Perseverance? God as Creator? You will find a wonderful passage from one of the Church Fathers that will inspire you and deepen your understanding of God's many gifts to those who are open to them.Second, each entry is a short and readable but rich introduction to the writings of the Church Fathers, allowing the reader to consider delving more deeply into their greater works.Third the package itself is first class with heavyweight paper, leather-like cover and fabric ribbon page marker. This book is made to last for a long, long time and I imagine that copies of this book will be passed on from generation to generation.Mike Aquilina has done a magnificent job of presenting the Catholic Church Fathers to all of us who long to develop a greater familiarity with the inestimable gift of their wisdom.

I gave this to my my baby’s godmother at his baptism and she appreciated. I have a copy of this myself (and the Scriptures version). Absolutely worth it and great reflections. Beautiful leatherette cover and golden margins

Great book!

I love this book. I've been wanting to read the Church Fathers for a long time, but never knew where to start and their volumes in length have kept me away. Mike Aquilina has done a brilliant job of taking their massive works into manageable daily devotional readings. It's a very easy read. He doesn't distort the text with his opinion but rather adds just a couple sentences of commentary to reflect on the daily section. I started to read this book a the beginning of the year and have continued to read this book everyday. I take it with me to adoration and will read it usually after daily mass. I don't typically like paying a lot of money for books, but go ahead and buy this one. It's well constructed and beautifully written. I promise you will enjoy it. God Bless!

I'm enjoying reading this book in the morning before starting my day. It has a lot for me to reflect on. I thought that the book was overpriced, but it does seem to be an elegant book with nice shiny pages. I hope to look into the other books in this series. What a great way to get reacquainted with the works of the Church Fathers.