Eastern Christian Publications is pleased to announce several new titles that have recently been published:

The Ratzinger Formula by Richard Mattiussi, $30.00
The Formula itself was originally articulated in a lecture given by Fr. Joseph Ratzinger at an ecumenical gathering in Graz, Austria in 1976 … In sum, he proposed that the Catholic Church must not require any more of an adherence to the Roman Primacy from the Orthodox Churches than had existed in the first millennium. On the other hand, the Orthodox must not condemn as heretical the developments that took place within the Catholic Church during the second millennium… Hence, “the Ratzinger Formula” will hopefully provide a fundamentally dynamic starting point where sister churches from two distinct ecclesial worlds may seek common ground in search of a concrete model that will express full and complete Eucharistic Communion.

The Holy Pentekostarion by Fr. Robert Slesinski, $15.00
The present work represents a continuing effort in mystagogical catechesis as already given in the prior volumes of this prospective series, The Holy Encounter and The Holy Transfiguration. As mentioned in the latter work, the term “mystagogical catechesis” comes from the title of St. Cyril of Jerusalem’s post-baptismal catecheses that further enlighten the newly baptized in their Christian initiation.  Here we are concerned with being enlightened as to the very mysteries in the life of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, himself.  The title of this study, however, bears a clarification.  Strictly speaking, the term “pentekostarion” (“pentecostarion”) refers to the liturgical book that contains the propers or variable prayers and Scripture readings for church services from Easter Sunday until the first Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday of All Saints.   In this work, on the other hand, the term is enlarged upon and equated with the Paschal season of fifty (“pentekoston”) days itself.  Truly we find ourselves in the season of the holy pentekostarion.

The Holy Encounter by Fr. Robert Slesinski, $15.00
This modest book is nothing but a meditation on the marvelous, awe-inspiring words of the Holy Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 2, verses 22–40.  This biblical passage recounts the events surrounding the Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple of Jerusalem forty days after his nativity.  Of all the major feasts on the Church calendar, the one that commemorates this holy occasion in the life of our Lord is unique in that it is known by multiple names, each highlighting a distinctly different moment integral to the whole scenario of the Infant Savior’s presentation in the Temple according to Mosaic Law.  The multidimensionality of this feast thus comes to the floor.

The Holy Transfiguration by Fr. Robert Slesinski, $15.00
The present book represents a work in “mystagogical catechesis,” not in the sense of St. Cyril of Jerusalem’s famed catechetical instructions preparatory to Christian initiation into the sacramental mysteries of holy baptism, holy chrismation, and the Holy Eucharist,  but in the sense of an unfolding of the very mysteries of Jesus’ life itself.  What is central to this type of catechesis, in other words, is not the mere recounting of a Gospel event, but the actual participation in it such that the encounter with the Lord that obtains is replete with salvific significance for any would-be initiate.

Glory to God!  Volume 6:  Journeys, Homilies and Reflections by Bishop John (Kalos) of Amorion, $15.00
“We would like to wholeheartedly congratulate you upon the completion of your recent book, “Glory to God: Journeys and Reflections”. We understand this will be the last volume in your book series published by Eastern Christian Publications. As you have been a prolific writer of our Orthodox Faith and Tradition all of your life, the compilation of your articles into this multi-themed series is indeed a worthy endeavor.  Your writings are always most educational and edifying to the faithful, covering such a wide range of theological, historical, social and practical aspects of our blessed Orthodox Faith. This crowning volume, which contains personal reflections from your travels and homiletic reflections on feast days and saints, is a most appropriate conclusion to the series.  — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Leaving for, Living in, Farewell to CHINA by Mere Elisabeth, $20.00
What difference is there between the star that stood over the manger where lay the Holy Child in Bethlehem, and the star on the red background of the flag of Communist China? An unexpected question! But if it were put to Mère Élisabeth, the author of this book, the answer would be even more surprising: “There is no difference!” Our Carmelite found the Peking Christians’ idea brilliant; to drape the Crib with the red silk of the Chinese flag in such a way that the star dominated the scene of the Nativity of the Saviour of all mankind. Recalling the separation from her Chinese Sisters whom she was to leave, Mère Élisabeth wrote: “Our Chinese Sisters are going to suffer in the heart of the surrounding atheism, the painful, perhaps long drawn-out birth of a new Christian China. May the sacrifice of our parting also make fruitful the harvest.” Those who hope that the dawn of democracy and liberty will arise over the vastness of China, and those who cannot see that it is in the simplicity of our lives that we can be men and women of light transforming the world, all will derive great benefit from reading this book.

Image, Symbol and Mystery by Archpriest Lawrence Cross, $15.00
In all its most ancient traditions Christianity is a sacramental religion. Sacraments form the very life of the Church through which the Spirit of God flows into the world. However, sacramentality implies a particular view of nature which is radically at odds with the secular, materialist view of modern western culture. It is a view that holds creation to be graced, sacred and full of meaning. The sacredness of nature thus lies at the very heart of Christianity and it is vital, when our relationship with nature is looming as one of the great moral questions of our time, that we understand how fundamental the sacredness of nature is to the sacramental life of the Church. In recent times this has become difficult in the Western Church because of the minimalist and informal way in which the liturgy and the sacraments are often approached. A study of the Eastern Church, with its love of elaborate ritual and symbol, can perhaps lead western Christians back to an appreciation of the full richness and grandeur of the Christian sacramental life. It is hoped that such a study will awaken a renewed love of the Liturgy and the sacraments in the life of the Church.

Liturgy: Model of Prayer — Icon for Life by Archimandrite Robert Taft, $20.00
My pretenses do not even extend to professing any special competence in the spiritual life or expertise in spiritual direction, and though already an old man, I do not imagine myself to be anyone’s starets but just a starik. But I do have competence aplenty in matters liturgical, and know perfectly well and have often written on what liturgy is and what it is meant to do. That is why I have chosen as the theme of these reflections “Liturgy: Model of Prayer, Icon of Life.” If you want to know what that means, read these reflections. They express my vision of what liturgy is and of what, from an Orthodox-Catholic point of view, God meant it to be in our lives.

Eastern Churches Journal Vol 15 No. 1, $15.00 or $40.00 annual subscription
Essay contest Winners of the Washington Theological Consortium, Documents, Questions & Answers, and a Chronicle of the Eastern Churches.

Orientale Lumen X (2006) Proceedings, “Church Unity Before 2054?”, $20.00

• The Light of the East by Patriarch Gregorios III
• Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue by William Cardinal Keeler
• Tenth Anniversary Greeting by Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia
• When the Son of Man Comes, Will He Find Faith? by Bishop John Michael Botean
• Church Unity Before 2054? by Bishop John of Amorion
• Catholic-Orthodox Relations in Southern California by Archpriest Alexei Smith
• A Rhetoric of Peace from the Church of the East by Father Jonathan Tobias
• The Ecumenism of the Saints by Father George Gallaro
• The View from Here by Dr. Eugenia Constantinou

You can find them all at our online catalog website:   www.https://ecpubs.com/