Next week will mark the Coptic Orthodox Holy Week (or Passion Week), leading up to Easter Sunday. The Coptic Orthodox Church follows a different calendar system and hence why our Easter falls a week later. To learn more about the Coptic Church calendar, go here.
Holy Week is the most spiritual week of the year. While it can be a solemn time as we are carried through the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixtion, it is also a time for renewal, cleansing and hope that all is not lost, that the story of salvation continues on and on forever. Holy Week is a great time to self-reflect and meditate on the most incredible and ultimate sacrifice in human history.
To be honest, I am not fully prepared for Holy Week. And sometimes I feel like if I don’t have a game plan by a certain time, then I am not going to get anything of value out of it. But don’t fall in that trap! As I was researching on how to better prepare, I came across this sermon by Father Anthony Messeh. I highly recommend it if you are looking for some sure ways to get prepped up with a focused mindset.
During Holy Week, the church carries us through the journey of events via readings and many long hymns. Over the years, a sure way that has helped me keep focus during those long hymns is to read a spiritually focused book. I wanted to share with you some of my favorites in case you are still looking for good reads. I linked them all below. You can still get them in time for Holy Week if you order with Amazon.
Note: Italicized summary content is not my own but copied from Amazon.
1. Great Lent: Journey to Pascha
“This revised edition of Father Alexander Schmemann’s Lenten classic examines the meaning of Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian, the Canon of St Andrew of Crete and other neglected or misunderstood treasures of Lenten worship. Schmemann draws on the Church’s sacramental and liturgical tradition to suggest the meaning of Lent in our life. The Lenten season is meant to kindle a ‘bright sadness’ within our hearts. Its aim is precisely the remembrance of Christ, a longing for a relationship with God that has been lost. Lent offers the time and place for recovery of this relationship. The darkness of Lent allows the flame of the Holy Spirit to burn within our hearts until we are led to the brilliance of the Resurrection.”
2. St. Athanasius On the Incarnation
“By any standard, this is a classic of Christian theology. Composed by St Athanasius in the fourth century, it expounds with simplicity the theological vision defended at the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople: that the Son of God himself became “fully human, so that we might become god.” Its influence on all Christian theology thereafter, East and West, ensures its place as one of the few “must read” books for all who want to know more about the Christian faith.”
3. The Case for Christ
“Retracing his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith, Lee Strobel, former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools like Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis who are recognized authorities in their own fields.
Strobel challenges them with questions like, How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence for Jesus exist outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event?”
4. The Screwtape Letters
“The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.”
5. The Joyful Christian
“C.S. Lewis, himself a convert, wrote of being “surprised by joy” when he discovered his belief in Jesus Christ. In these 127 devotional readings, selected from Lewis’s many works on faith and spirituality, Christians everywhere can share in the joy of this master theologian as he discusses topics ranging from the nature of prayer and good works to psychoanalysis and fascism. In The Joyful Christian, Lewis offers inspiration for all those who hunger and thirst after joy.”
Let me know in the comments below if you read any of these! Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to follow me on Instagram and subscribe to the blog!
This post is not sponsored but contains affiliate links, which means Jolie and Grace receives a small commission if you click a link or purchase an item. Please check out the full disclosure policy for more details.
1 Comments
Comments are closed.