52 in 25: #7 - Early Christian Writings

 

Still working on a novel (it’s a long one), but in the meantime I finished my book for spiritual reading: Penguin Classics Early Christian Writings.  This is part of my own ressourcement, in a way.  I was inspired to go back to some of the Church Fathers last year with the feast of St. Clement (November 23).

 

Texts include “The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians,” “The Epistles of Ignatius,” “The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians,” “The Martyrdom of Polycarp,” “The Epistle of Diognetus,” “The Epistle of Barnabas,” and “The Didache.”  Some of these I have read, in whole or in part, but even those I had were good to return to.  Some of them I had also used in my thesis for seminary, particular pertaining to the Eucharistic language in martyrdom accounts.

 

These were good for reflection and for my Holy Hours.  It is especially interesting to see common areas of concern, like unity, which we still need to remember today.  And, of course, the beauty of dying for the faith.  They are inspirational, no doubt.  The one criticism I had with this particular version is that some of the translation was a bit different, but the general idea remains.  I also probably should have chosen a bit more comprehensive collection, but it’s a good starter.