Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings

"To search the sacred Scripture is very good and most profitable for the soul. For, 'like a tree which is planted near the running waters,' so does the soul watered by sacred Scripture also grow hearty and bear fruit in due season," writes John of Damascus in Orthodox Faith (4.17).

By helping us to read holy writings with ancient eyes, the church fathers help us drink deeply from the only water that can give us true life.

Edited by Cindy Crosby and Thomas C. Oden, this guide to prayer and reflection combines excerpts from the writings of the church fathers as found in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS) with a simple structure for either daily or weekly reading and prayer.

Included are 52 weeks of readings following cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. You can read through them in order or by thematic interest. Each day you will also find a simple opening and closing prayer drawn from the prayers and hymns of the ancient church.