Become All Flame: Lent With African Saints

By Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham and Andrew Kinard

Recovering the tradition of African Christian holy men and women from centuries-long neglect, Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr. restores the sacredness of early African Christians to modern seekers. This book is a remedy for the broken images about Black sanctity that have eroded the hope of the African d

• Language: English
• Publisher: Park End Books
• Release date: Feb 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9781953427229

Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham

One "who brings out of his treasure things new and old," Father Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr., M.Div., draws forth the rich wisdom of African Christian faith to glorify Christ in his writings that recollect the dignity and grace of his forebears. Deacon John's relatable application of insights from saints is borne of his ministry with teens at Saint Basil the Great Orthodox Church in Hampton, Virginia.Deacon John is a native of King William County, VA and a graduate of Virginia State University. He studied at the Virginia Union University School of Theology and was the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, West Point. He converted to Orthodox Christianity in 2014 and completed the St. Stephen's Certificate in Orthodox Theology from the Antiochian House of Studies in 2018. The same year, John was Ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Grace Bishop Thomas. Deacon John serves at the Saint Basil the Great parish in Hampton, VA where he is also a Teen SOYO advisor. He has served on the national board of the Fellowship of St. Moses the Black. He is a Ranger at York River State Park in Williamsburg and Membership Staffer at the Greater West Point YMCA. Deacon and Shamassy Brenda have been married for 30 years and reside in West Point.

Book preview

Become ALL FLAME

Lent with African Saints

Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr.

Sugar Land

2022

Copyright 2022 Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover image Surrender Copyright Steve Prince

Interior Icon Drawings: Andrew Kinard

Interior Icon Drawings Copyright Andrew Kinard

Cover & Book Design: Summer Kinard

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gresham, Jr., Fr. Deacon John R., 1966- author.

Title: Become all flame: lent with African saints / written by Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr.; cover image by Steve Prince; illustrations by Andrew Kinard; design by Summer Kinard

Description: Sugar Land [Texas]: Park End Books, 2022.

Identifiers: ISBN: 978-1-953427-21-2

Subjects: Religion – Christianity – Saints & Sainthood, Religion – Christianity – Orthodox

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901532

www.parkendbooks.com

Memory Eternal

The Reverend Carter Randolph Wicks

My wise elder of the faith

Table of Contents

Useful Terms

      1

Acknowledgements

      3

FOREWORD

      4

Introduction

      10

WEek One      1

5

Simon of Cyrene       16

Scillitan Martyrs       18

Asclas of Egypt        20

Theodora & Didymus the Soldier      22

Bishop Cyprian of Carthage       24

Iradia       26

Callistratus & 49 Companions      28

WEek TWO      

31

Djan Darada       32

Menas      34

Katherine      36

Thomais      38

Julia      40

Elesbaan      42

Fulvanius      44

WEek Three      

47

Perpetua & Felicity      48

Anthony the Great      50

Macarius the Great      52

John of Thebes      54

Eugene & Mary of Alexandria      56

Agathon of Egypt      58

Bishop Serapion of Thmuis      60

WEek Four      

63

Athanasius the Great      64

Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria      66

Zacharias the Recluse of Egypt      68

Paphnutius      70

Pachomius the Great      72

Theodore the Sanctified      74

Bessarion the Great      76

WEek Five      

79

Moses the Black      80

Paisius the Great      82

Sisoes the Great      84

Sarah of the Nile      86

Pambo      88

Poemen the Shepherd      90

Theodora of Alexandria      92

WEek Six      9

5

Mary of Egypt      96

Euphrosyne & Paphnutius      98

Ammon      100

Thais (Taisia)      102

Thais      104

Isadora of Tabennisi      106

John the Dwarf      108

WEek Seven      

111

Augustine of Hippo      112

Monica of Africa      114

Patapius      116

Isaac of Fayoum      118

Isidore of Pelusia      120

Isidore of Sketis      122

Onuphrius the Great      124

Bibliography

      126

About the Author

      127

About the Cover Image Artist

      129

About the Illustrator

      130

Coming Soon from Park End Books

      131

Useful terms

theotokos: The title (Mother of God) given from the time of the earliest prayers of the Church to the Mother of God, the blessed Virgin Mary.

Abba: An honorary name for a wise elder or Desert Father. It means Father.

Amma: An honorary name for a wise elder or Desert Mother. It means Mother.

Martyr: A Christian who bore witness to Christ unto death, refusing to renounce Christ even when subjected to tortures and murder. Martyr means witness, because the unfailing faith of those killed for the sake of Christ bore witness to their belief in His Resurrection.

Ascetic: Asceticism means struggle, and an ascetic is one who disciplines himself or herself to crucify the desires of their flesh so that they might more fully devote themselves to the life of the spirit and prayer with the Holy Spirit.

Divine Liturgy: This is the name for the primary church service of the ancient and Orthodox Church. Also known as the Eucharist (thanksgiving) or Mass (sacrifice) the Divine Liturgy is when Christians take Communion and experience the full presence of Christ on earth. It is called heaven on earth for this reason.

Monastic: From the word for single, or solitary, a monastic (a monk or a nun) dedicates themselves wholly to God through vows of celibacy, poverty, obedience, and usually group disciplines of daily prayer and life called a monastic Rule.

Persecutions: These refer to various waves of violence and seeking out Christians for punishment as atheists (for not believing in the Roman pantheon of gods) in the Roman Empire, primarily before 313, when the Edict of Milan issued by Constantine made Christianity one of the legal religions in the Roman Empire. During a wave of persecution, officials would crack down on what they saw as Christian impiety against common order when Christians refused to participate in public festivals or to show honor to the emperor and the local deities through sacrifices. Christian impiety towards the idols seemed to the Roman leaders to be acts of subversion of the Empire’s stability and authority, because the Romans saw their power as coming from their gods. As a result, they would seek out and kill dissidents like the Christians in what were usually regional persecutions and sometimes widespread under particular leaders like Decius and Diocletian.

Pagan: This is the name Christians use to refer to the folk piety of the ancient Romans and other neighbors who worshipped idols. It’s from the word for countryside because it reflects the homegrown, usually localized, and native piety in the areas in which the Gospel spread.

Fornication: This term refers to any sexual activity that uses oneself or another person dishonorably, as objects for fulfilling greed or will to power or mere bodily desires rather than honorable intercourse in marriage and recognizing the dignity of the image of God in one another.

Reposed: When a Christian dies, we say they have reposed, or fallen asleep, in the Lord, because Christ has already trampled down death by death, bestowing life on those in the tombs.

Acknowledgements

All praises to God

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