14 October 2013

Orthogals' First Book Giveaway!

Okay, ladies and gents, Orthogals has a rather exciting announcement to make.  This week they’re having their very first giveaway, sponsored by Ancient Faith Publishing.

Some of you may remember AFP when it was called Conciliar Press.  They’ve published many classics and favorites, including Frederica Mathewes-Green and Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon.  I remember poring over the Conciliar Press catalogue as a kid the way my ancestors read Sears-Roebuck before Christmas.  They have books and e-books, music, jewelry, icons, greeting cards, all sorts of pretty things. 

Ancient Faith Ministries is also the organization behind Ancient Faith Radio, which offers both music and podcasts.  At this point they’re averaging over 600,000 podcast downloads a month from over 150 different countries, which is kind of stunning.  Their music streaming has saved my sanity more than once, especially if I was home sick on a feast day or trying to work/study while keeping a taste of Lent around.

And the really cool news?  They want to give you books.

The writings of the Church Fathers are regularly lauded but rarely read, partly because their sheer volume is so daunting. Yet they constitute the “first story” of the Christian faith, built upon its apostolic foundation, which we ignore at our peril. Patristic scholar James Payton has made the Fathers easily accessible by selecting passages that are devotionally stimulating, doctrinally thought-provoking, or epigrammatically striking. With his help, the average Christian can find stimulation, comfort, challenge, and inspiration in the Church Fathers.
  
Every monastery exudes the scent of holiness, but women’s monasteries have their own special flavor. Join Constantina Palmer as she makes frequent pilgrimages to a women’s monastery in Greece and absorbs the nuns’ particular approach to their spiritual life. If you’re a woman who’s read of Mount Athos and longed to partake of its grace-filled atmosphere, this book is for you. Men who wish to understand how women’s spirituality differs from their own will find it a fascinating read as well.
  
The twentieth-century elder Abba Matta of Egypt, known in the West as Matthew the Poor, is widely regarded as the greatest Egyptian elder since St. Antony the Great. …Abba Matta had a marvelous ability to communicate the deepest spiritual truths in the simplest and most practical language, making them accessible to laypeople as well as monastics. He speaks to the heart rather than the head, gently exhorting the reader to pursue a deeper life in Christ. To read these talks is to sit at the feet of one of the greatest spiritual teachers of our age.

So here’s the drill:

You can enter 3 ways.  First, comment on the original post at Orthogals and give the title of the book (or gift) you like best from AFP’s website.  For the second entry, like Orthogals on Facebook (or already-have-liked us).  And the third entry comes from (publicly) sharing this post on Facebook or your blog. After you like us on FB and share the post, leave a separate comment for each action.

In other words, a person who comments on the Orthogals blog with their favorite AFP book will get one entry. If she then likes the Orthogals FB page,  she should leave another comment saying she did so; this will get her a second entry. And if she shares a link to this giveaway on her blog or FB wall, she should leave a final comment for her third entry with the URL.

The contest closes Sunday night (10/20/13) at 11:59pm.  The 3 winners will be declared a week from today and notified via the email given when commenting.  The winners will have 2 days to claim their prize before we pick an alternate.  Each person can only win one book.

Good luck!

Relevant Reading
Orthogals: Because Dating is Hard
Orthogals on Facebook
Ancient Faith Publishing
Ancient Faith Radio

No comments: