Become All Flame: Lent With African Saints

by Dcn. John R. Gresham Jr., Summer Kinard (Foreword), Andrew Kinard (Illustrator)

Recovering the tradition of African Christian holy men and women from centuries-long neglect, Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr. restores the sacred memory of early African Christians to modern seekers. From the African pilgrim who carried Christ’s cross in His passion to the holy women in hiding who overcame demons in Christ’s name, these African Christian ancestors shone so brightly that they still enlighten the Church, extending the call to the African diaspora to reclaim their place at God’s table.

About the Author
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.

140 pages, Paperback

Published February 4, 2022

Reviews

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have already read Become All Flame: Lent with African Saints by Fr. Deacon John Gresham (with illustrations by Steve Prince and Andrew Kinard) from Park End Books through once, but plan to read again, slowly, every day this Lent. It contains 49 saints from the African continent, almost all recognized by both Oriental and Eastern Orthodox families of Orthodoxy, and likely also by Catholicism. Not surprisingly, many of them come from Egypt. It is clear from this book that Fr. Deacon John has spent much time with each of these saints, as he has given us a beautiful collection of saint stories, each short enough to read in a few minutes but long enough to capture the essence of each saint. May we learn what each of these African saints have to teach us. I found many of my favorites in there, and learned about a few new ones. Each story is accompanied by meditations and Scripture readings to read alongside each story. Park End Books provided me with a copy of this book to review, and I plan on giving multiple copies of this book as gifts.

This book is on my 2022 Lent Reading List: https://beingincommunity.com/what-im-...

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful devotional. I read this though Lent but it could be read as a devotional at any time of the year. These saints are still known in the Eastern Church but less so in the Western Churches.

Rediscover the rich lessons from our early fathers and mothers of The Christian Church. This is a very accessible devotional for anyone wanting to connect with the deep theology of Christianity on the African Continent.

Highly Recommended.

[Iz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Become All Flame
By Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr.

I found this book perfect for my Lenten reading this year. A beautiful collection of SAINT stories broken up for weekly digesting. Which each story was brief ( perfect for the mother or father of many little ones) they leave you with the essence of the Saint. Enough for you to ponder all day on them. Each meditation I was able to use as my point of prayer for the day.

Fr. Deacon John really hit this one out of the park! I am very picky about my Lenten reads as it is such an important time of reflection toward the glorious Resurrection of Christ. I am so thankful that this was the book for my Lenten journey. I’ll be purchasing a spare copy to loan out to friends and parishioners.

-Elizabeth Rabago