Customer Reviews

The Lives of the Spiritual Mothers

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I bought this book primarily to look up information on my patron saint, but I've found that it is a real treasure trove on a lot of women monastic and saints! The book itself is beautiful with the cover, binding and gold embossed lettering. I enjoyed reading the preface. Very educational. The information presented in this book is derived from legitimate sources such as the Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church which is used for the entire church year. This book is a translation from the original Greek text.

It's not easy to find, and I had to go to a source for a used book, but if you find it, it is well worth the price. The only real complaint I have regarding the look of the book is that the pictures are all in black and white and let's face it iconography looks best in color. However, I realize having color would've probably made the book more expensive to produce.

Caveat: Regarding the content presented in this book, I feel that since most of it is geared toward monastics, the average laypersons should be careful when reading it. Some of the material is not suitable for either children or for those adolescents and adults who are very sensitive in nature. While many of the stories of the saints lives in this book are inspiring, some of the stories of the martyred saints are quite graphic and disturbing in the violence described. Some of the stories, to be honest, are downright depressing. A number of the saints described in the book are praised for their rigorous fasting rule. However, by today's standards some would be considered anorexic. I would say that anyone who has an eating disorder should probably ask their priest or spiritual parent their advice before taking on this book.

In spite of some of the controversial parts of the book, I am still recommending this Materikon for church libraries and for one's personal reading. This is part of a series of books on saints. All of them are pretty expensive, but well worth it for the person who has a serious interest in hagiography and Orthodox Christian spirituality.