Reddit mentions of Everyday Saints and Other Stories

First, look up evangelical counsels (also here).

>Christ in the Gospels laid down certain rules of life and conduct which must be practiced by every one of His followers as the necessary condition for attaining to everlasting life. These precepts of the Gospel practically consist of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, of the Old Law, interpreted in the sense of the New. Besides these precepts which must be observed by all under pain of eternal damnation, He also taught certain principles which He expressly stated were not to be considered as binding upon all, or as necessary conditions without which heaven could not be attained, but rather as counsels for those who desired to do more than the minimum and to aim at Christian perfection, so far as that can be obtained here upon earth.

Going back a few verses from the verse you referenced, we read that Jesus said to the crowd:

>Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Elsewhere, we read that Jesus tells us:

>Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Obviously a Christian's duty is always to those in greater need than he. And if what you own stands between yourself and helping with food, or clothing, or shelter, than what you own is an obstacle...not just to Christian perfection, but to charity--which is the greatest (and most fundamental) of the virtues.

But of all the people we read about who Jesus interacted with, the only person he explicitly told to "sell all you own" was the Rich Young Man, to whom he said, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

>When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

Though this man says he had "kept the commandments from his youth", his heart was not where it ought to have been. His heart was where his treasure was--with his possessions.

But that Jesus never intended all of his disciples to sell all of their possessions is proved from the fact that so many of his disciples had homes of their own (including Peter; he had a wife or at least a mother-in-law to look after) and Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. The Gospel of Luke mentions several other women who, "helped Jesus and his disciples out of their own means.

In Acts we read that the disciples "had everything in common, but we read in Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (11:22) that the Corinthians had homes to eat and drink in. And taking up a collection from the Corinthians for the relief of the poor in other churches, a thing that they themselves had desired to do, Paul writes:

>I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

Indeed, in presenting a dishonest sum, the profit made from the sale of their possessions, Ananias and Sapphira were told by Peter:

>Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.

All this is to show that it was never understood, either during Jesus' earthly ministry, or in the earliest days of the Church, that in order to be a Christian and to inherit eternal life one had to sell all of his possessions.

But Paul, writing to the Philippians, wrote:

>Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Secondly, if you've never seen an example of Christians selling all they have than you must be ignorant of monasticism. In fact, all consecrated religious have taken vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

There are examples really too numerous to list. The whole 2,000 year history of the Church is replete with examples of men and women giving up everything for the aid of the poor, to ease and comfort them in their distress, to sit with them, mourn with them, laugh with them, to share in their struggles, their joys, and their sufferings. To feed them, clothe them, and most importantly to pray with them and to pray for them. To suffer for them...

I was just reading today a story about a Russian Orthodox monk who was approached by a gypsy who asked him for some money. The monk happened to be a priest and the gypsy had heard, incorrectly, that priests always had money. The priest's companion, also a monk and a priest, tried to explain to the old man that they really hadn't any money at all, but the elder priest, taking in the old man and, as the Gospel says, "looking at him, he loved him", took off his new leather shoes which a friend had given him, gave them to the old gypsy, and walked away barefoot.

It's said that St. Francis, if he saw someone in the cold without a cloak, would excuse himself from his company saying, "Excuse me, but I've borrowed my brother coat, and I have to give it back to him," and he would go over and give the poor person his own habit.

St. Teresa of Calcutta took poverty so seriously that she literally suffered through and for the poor she loved so much. The order of religious sisters she founded, the Missionaries of Charity, possess as little as possible to fulfill their mission of caring for the poorest of the poor and dying.

This is the book from which the Russian monk's story comes:

Everyday Saints and Other Stories

I absolutely agree that most Christians could do more. We're most of us lazy, greedy, jealous, petty, proud, when we should be industrious, caring, prudent, and humble. And above all, we all* have room to grow in the direction of charity.

But also bear in mind that the poor also includes our families, our wives, our husbands, and especially our children. And a mother or a father's duty to his or her children is paramount. We truly feed and clothe the poor when we care for our children. And most of us (parents) have it easy. My wife, who grew up in communist Poland, can tell stories of extreme poverty and want--when parents would go without food just so their children could have their fill.

I don't know whether a catechism is the best kind of resource to provide. He should contact the priest nearest to him and establish a relationship - let the priest guide him. One way or another, he will need a spiritual father.

Depending on your friend's disposition, I might be more inclined to recommend Elder Cleopas' The Truth of Our Faith. Personally, I would definitely not recommend any of Clark Carleton's books. They are not inaccurate - I just think they are too polemical.

I would also strongly recommend Everyday Saints. The book is not any kind of catechism, but it gives a very strong sense of what an Orthodox life feels like, even though it is written from a Russian monastic perspective. The same holds true for Mountain of Silence, which is from the perspective of a Greek layperson.

I have heard a number of atheist/agnostic types who have come to love the book "Everyday Saints." I don't know why this is (although it's a marvelous book).

https://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Saints-Stories-Archimandrite-Shevkunov-ebook/dp/B00AZM6MM8

Although again, as others have noted there sometimes is no "magic book."

Another book that someone else already recommended is "Wounded by Love." Funny enough, in either that book or another book by him called "Christ is Fullness of Life," St. Porphyrios seems to speak against trying to coerce/force children (I am assuming older ones) even into coming to church and instead advises parents to simply pray for their children and respect their free will. I am in no way evaluating this position, it's just an interesting perspective.

The Orthodox church features heavily in the Brothers Karmazov and there are a lot of great books about it.

The Orthodox Way by Kallistos Ware is an overview of their practices and beliefs and how they affect life as a whole. It references the Brothers K a lot, especially the life of Father Zosima. The themes of Dostoyevsky are fundamentally rooted in Orthodox tradition. This book takes those same ideas and goes much deeper into them. The same author has another book on the history of the church that is pretty good too.

Everyday Saints was a recent nonfiction bestseller in Russia about monastics living under soviet occupation. It's beautifully written. It reminded me a lot of Brothers K. It's a sprawl of Russians balancing drama with weighty religious themes.

But neither of those are in the literary cannon. For classic literature with similar themes I'd highly reccomend Moby Dick. The book is so famous that people forget how good it is. It's one of the greatest works of American Literature ever. The prose is a massive step up from translations of Dostoevsky while covering the same themes as Brothers K just as deeply.

Also, if you like Brothers K you'll like all his other works. Notes from Underground is my favorite and very short. But they're all good. Tolstoy is great too and has much better prose if you're down to read another giant book. War and Peace and Anna Karenina are both solid members of the cannon.

Shakespeare's plays might be too short to count but all his works cover the same themes too.

A Crown of Life: A Novel of the Great Persecution is a good book, written by a Orthodox man (a deacon I believe).


Everyday Saints and Other Stories isn't fiction, but is still an interesting read.

read everyday Saints

Everyday Saints and Other Stories

Read the book Everyday Saints

That's all you have to do.