Understanding and Praying with the Early Christians

I noticed a brief online video report on a new book by a gentleman named Gabriel Larrauri and entitled Praying with the Early Christians. Actually, the book's title is really Los Primeros Cristianos since it was written and is published in Spanish. As described in the video (below) it sounds like an excellent book and I trust it will be translated into English soon. (As befitting someone who minored in German, my Spanish is pretty much limited to Hola and Adios.) The author, however, collaborates with an English-language website, EarlyChristians.org, which I recommend to those interested in the lives and spirituality of Christians during the first few centuries after Christ's life, death and resurrection.

If your Spanish is no better than mine, making Senor Larrauri's book inaccessible, I have some other suggestions for you -- books addressing the same or similar subjects. The first is a book I obtained just a few months ago and read all too quickly. I hope to reread it soon, this time a bit more slowly. Written by a Swiss Benedictine monk, Fr. Gabriel Bunge, it examines personal prayer from the perspective of the Church Fathers. Fr. Bunge, though, is no average monk. He has been living a hermit's life since 1980. His book, which I highly recommend, is entitled Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to the Patristic Tradition.

Addressing the reasons for studying the prayer life of the Church Fathers, Fr. Bunge writes, "Whoever wants to have 'fellowship with God', therefore, can never disregard those before him who were made worthy of this fellowship!" It is always best to learn from the experts, from those nearest to the source of our faith, those whose lives more closely mirror the life of Jesus Himself.

I have also benefited from two other books, both written by Mike Aquilina, and both addressing the prayer of early Christians. The Way of the Fathers: Praying with the Early Christians is really a collection of the thoughts of the early Church Fathers on prayer and spirituality. It's a wonderful little book that need not be read from cover to cover. You can pick it up and put it down, reading only those entries or sections that appeal to you at the time. It also lends itself to profitable meditation.

The other Aquilina book, Praying the Psalms with the Early Christians: Ancient Songs for Modern Hearts, is a collection of reflections on the Psalms by saints of the early Church. These Psalms -- Aquilina selects just 34 for study -- have been prayed for as long as 3,000 years. Not only were they prayed by Christ Himself, but as Christians we believe they are all about Christ. Indeed, when meditating on the Psalms one can hear the very voice of Jesus Christ speaking to us. One wise man -- I have forgotten who -- once commented that if we lost all of Scripture, except the Psalms, we would still have enough, since the Psalms contain the entire History of Salvation. For those of you who pray daily the Church's prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, these reflections provide some wonderful insights into the Psalms as they were understood and prayed in the early Church.


I must also mention a third Aquilina book, The Mass of the Early Christians, in which the author explains the early Church's Eucharistic beliefs and practices, and does so using the words of the early Christians themselves. Just as it is today, the Mass, the Eucharistic Celebration, was at the very center of the early Church's worship and spiritual life. And since the Mass is our most perfect prayer, it's only fitting that I should include this book among those focusing on early Church prayer. Read it and come to understand the roots of our worship today. Every element of the Mass as we know it is no different from that which was celebrated at the very beginning of Christianity. It's all there: the altar, the priest, the chalice, the unleavened bread, the Sign of the Cross, as well as the parts of the Mass so familiar to us today. This is truly a wonderful book.


One final recommendation is a book written by Robert Louis Wilken, a man who has a number of books on my bookshelves. Professor Wilken, who teaches the history of Christianity at the University of Virginia, is among the most knowledgeable scholars on the subject. Happily for us, he also writes well. The book is called The Spirit of Early Christian Thought, and in it Wilken examines the evolution of Christian tradition in the early Church, examining the thinking of the early Fathers of the Church on a wide range of subjects. This is a remarkable book that should be read and studied by all those interested in early Christianity.

There are, of course, many other excellent books on the early Church, but these few should provide a nice overview, particularly with regard to prayer and spirituality. They will also whet your appetite and make you want to read more.


I hope you enjoy them.

Pax et bonum...