PUBLISHER NEWS: Chrysostom Press releases new book

Chrysostom Press has recently released The Explanation of the Gospel of John by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria. This completes the four volume set of Theophylact's classic Gospel commentaries, written about the year 1100 A.D. and now available for the first time in English. Work is underway to complete the translation (from the original Greek) of Blessed Theophylact's commentary on the New Testament.

Dr. Mary Ford, Professor of New Testament at St. Tikhon’s Seminary in New Canaan, PA, writes: “The long awaited translation of Bl. Theophylact's Explanation of the Holy Gospel According to John...is of the same high quality as the others in the series. The very fluid, readable translation, enhanced by judiciously placed explanatory footnotes...should be greatly appreciated by serious students of Scripture - certainly the seminarians in my class on the Gospel of John have benefited very much from reading it. Yet it is accessible for anyone who is looking for an edifying and informative commentary on St. John's Gospel.”

The blog The Ochlophobist said of The Explanation of the Gospel of John:“Bl. Theophylact's teaching of Scripture is the teaching of the cadence of graceful steps. He holds the hands of his spiritual children, and teaches them how to get the feel of the legs underneath them. His commentaries are meant to be bathed in, their genius is their wholeness, the consistent movement of grace whether ordinary or life-shattering; this is Baptism by immersion, and not by sprinkling.” Read the full review.

Chrysostom Press also publishes the twelve-volume set The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints, compiled St. Demetrius, Bishop of Rostov, a renowned Russian church leader and writer of the seventeenth century. One of the most comprehensive collections of lives of saints to be published in English, The Great Collection covers the saints of the first millennium, as well as Russian saints of the first half of the second millennium (Note: only in heaven is there a record of the life of every saint!). The first six volumes already available contain the lives of saints who are celebrated from September through February. The seventh volume (for the month of March) will be published in February, 2008.

Fr. Christopher Stade, the founder of Chrysostom Press and translator of Blessed Theophylact’s Explanation of the Gospels, is the rector of St. John Chrysostom Orthodox Church (ROCOR), located in House Springs, Missouri, 45 minutes southwest of St. Louis in the foothills of the Ozarks. A small group of dedicated parishioners assist him in producing the books, advertising, and order fulfillment.
Fr. Thomas Marretta in upstate New York (Cortland) has been working with Chrysostom Press since 1993 to translate The Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints from the original Church Slavonic text of St. Demetrius of Rostov. When he completes the final draft of each volume, he sends it Chrysostom Press in House Springs for layout and production.

Plans for future publications (in addition to completing the two ongoing series) include booklets of individual Lives of the Saints from The Great Collection; CDs of recorded Lives of the Saints by a gifted storyteller recounting and explaining them for young children; and a collection of essays on Orthodoxy in America by an eloquent contemporary writer (name of author to be announced).