Maronite and other Eastern Catholic books?

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RealisticCatholic

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Does anyone have any good recommendations?

I have Early Syriac Theology and Christ Our Pascha (the Ukrainian catechism).

Does anyone have Captivated by Your Teachings: A Resource Book for Adult Maronite Catholics and if so, what are the table of contents like?

Any other books?
 
Early Syriac Theology and Introduction to Eastern Christian Spirituality: The Syriac Tradition are two of the finest introductions to the Maronite-Syriac tradition out there. I’d also recommend simply going straight to the sources - read Mor Ephrem, Jacob of Sarug, Isaac (the Syrian) of Nineveh, The Book of Steps, Philoxenus of Mabbug, etc. They’re all wonderful.

I’ve read Captivated by Your Teachings, and portions of it I’ve read multiple times. I’m not a fan, honestly, and I know several Maronites much more knowledgeable than myself who are similarly not fans. To my recollection, the author hardly ever references the Syriac Fathers, and when he does it’s usually just Theodore of Mopsuestia (a controversial figure). Otherwise he mostly references the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the documents of Vatican II, and the Maronite liturgical texts. Chorbishop Seely Beggiani’s approach in Early Syriac Theology is much better in that he references our liturgical texts along with the Syriac Fathers (particularly Ephrem and Jacob of Sarug).

Christ Our Pascha is a Byzantine book and will give you an excellent perspective on the Byzantine tradition. I have a copy of it myself for work purposes. But it’s best to keep in mind that the Byzantine tradition is not equivalent to the Eastern tradition (in much the same way that the Roman tradition is not equivalent to the Catholic tradition). The Syriac tradition is unique and distinct from the Byzantine tradition, so if it’s the Maronite-Syriac tradition that you are particularly interested in, then you’re going to want to stick with Maronite-Syriac sources.

I hope that’s helpful.
 
Introduction to Eastern Christian Spirituality: The Syriac Tradition
Why is this so expensive?

and (2) have you ever heard of the book Aramaic Catholicism by Peter J El Khouri?

And thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut. It was helpful. And yes, I am aware that the Eastern churches and traditions are many. But I would like to learn from the different ones.
 
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Introduction to Eastern Christian Spirituality: The Syriac Tradition is expensive because it’s out of print. I waited for years, watching listings on Amazon, before I found a copy that was under $100 (I think I paid $30 or $40 for my copy). It truly is a wonderful little book.

I’ve read some of Aramaic Catholicism and wasn’t impressed - not because of the information, but because the English was so bad it rendered the book pretty much unreadable. In the end, I was happy that I borrowed it from my parish library instead of forking over the $50 for a new copy.
 
Any book by Father Robert Taft SJ of blessed memory. I also recommend Introduction to Liturgical Theology by Alexander Schmemann, The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity by Metropolitan Kallistos well and his other famous work The Orthodox Way.

ZP
 
Great suggestions! Fr. Taft has a wonderful little book called Liturgy: Model of Prayer - Icon of Life available through Eastern Christian Publications. If memory serves me correctly, it’s actually based off of a retreat he gave to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic seminarians at the seminary in Washington, D.C. It’s the only book of his that’s less heavily academic and serves as some great formative and spiritual reading.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t able to get into Introduction to Liturgical Theology. That being said, Schmemann’s For the Life of the World is superb! His books on the Great Fast and the Baptismal rites are also fantastic.

I love Met. Kallistos Ware, and actually helped produce a number of educational video series by him for Eastern Christian Publications/Orientale Lumen Television. His video series on mystical theology is quite good, and with how many times I’ve seen/listened to it, I should have it memorized by now. He’s also got a lovely series on the Philokalia and another on the life and teaching of St. Seraphim of Sarov. My only caution with him (and it’s a pretty minor caution, honestly) is that he’s not always accurate in his presentations of Catholicism and Catholic theology. That being said, he does try to give Catholicism a fair treatment, and so he’s very respectful on the rare occasions that he speaks about Catholicism.
 
LOL. Thank you. I have only recently come to appreciate the value of the library, having previously preferred to own all my books (which caused my poor bride a great deal of grief).
 
The closing of 50,000 Books in El Cajon was my turning point.

I could get golden age and 60s SF books for 2-5 per dollar.

But I now have so many, unindexed . . . libraries are a great sp[ace saver, even if my personal collection is better . . .

And now that they have ebooks at the library . . .
 
Alexander Schmemann is very good. For the Light of the World is a very good book.

As far as Maronite books go, Seely Begianni’s book is very good. Sebastian Brock’s books are good. Look up The Luminous Eye by Sebastian Brock. Also look for The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life. It is a collection of writings of Syriac saints, including Catholic, Oriental, and Assyrian. It is a very good resource.
 
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