Monday, November 9, 2009

Reading Through the Season of the Nativity

While I have been buried in plans for our local church women's retreat (posts coming soon), Mary has been busy at work organizing our list of Nativity books. This season of the church is fast approaching, and is the second of the great fasts of the Church. Beginning on November 15, those in the Orthodox Church prepare for December 25 through fasting, prayer and almsgiving. However, the church continues the celebration of this season with the feast of Theophany on January 6 and then concludes with the Feast of the Presentation on February 2. Because of this, we have chosen to include titles that go beyond just the traditional Christmas story books. We have included books for the saints of the season, books on the Great Feasts celebrated during this period of time, titles specifically devoted to the birth of Christ, pious customs related to the feast of Nativity, and traditional folktales from Orthodox countries make up the substance of our list.
This list is far from being a comprehensive list, and your suggestions are welcome. We have included some titles that are not strictly Orthodox. We chose to include books we feel are both well-written and beautifully illustrated. We have hyper-linked the titles to assist you in determining if these are appropriate choices for your family. There are many traditional Christmas books you will not find on this list, since there are so many other Christmas themed reading lists online and we did not wish to duplicate them.
We hope this list will be a help to you and your family as you prepare for the blessed Nativity season, and keep us in your prayers as we continue with our projects.

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