THE BOOK STUDY FELLOWSHIP   2003-2004   Witnesses to Faith: The Twentieth Century   The Adult Study Fellowship is a monthly Christian book club led by Father Steve that provides an opportunity for fellowship and ecumenical dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Sponsored jointly by St. Paul’s and St. John Neumann, the ASF is a structured attempt to explore a common path for Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians in living a Spirit-filled, Christ-centered life.  This year, the ASF will be exploring the lives and writings of faithful men and women of the 20th century, some – like St. Silouan of Mt. Athos and St. Edith Stein – who have been canonized as saints by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches and others – like Mother Maria Skobtsova and Dorothy Day – who have not yet been canonized, but whose lives have provided a powerful witness to the Gospel.   We meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7PM, beginning with a prayer service in the Church. All of the books are available from Joanne Lorton in our parish bookstore. Plan to join us!   October 14th  The Monk of Mount Athos by Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov   Originally published in 1958 as The Undistorted Image this book recounts some of the life and teachings of St. Silouan (1866-1938), a monk of the “Russian” monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, recently canonized by the Orthodox Church.     November 11th Aunt Edith: The Jewish heritage of a Catholic Saint by Susanne Batzdorff   Edith Stein, the daughter of a German Jewish family, had a spectacular academic career. Converting to Roman Catholicism, she became a Carmelite nun in 1933. In 1942, the Nazis deported her to Auschwitz, where both she and her sister died. Amidst some controversy, she was recently declared a saint by Pope John Paul II. The author, Susanne Batzdorff, is a niece of St. Edith Stein and lives in northern CA.    December 9th Mother Maria Skobtsova: Essential Writings with an introduction by Jim Forest  Mother Maria (1891-1945), a Russian exile in Paris following the Bolshevik Revolution, was a poet and mother who became a nun shunning “traditional” monastic ways for a life of service to alcoholics, drug addicts and the mentally and physically ill. Captured by the Nazis for hiding Jews, she died in the Ravensbruck concentration camp.   January 13th Father Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father translated by Vera Bouteneff   An account by his spiritual children of Father Arseny (1893-1973), an Orthodox priest who became prisoner # 18376 in the gulags of the infamous Soviet prison system during the years of Stalin’s brutal persecution of Christianity.   February 10th Love is the Measure: A biography of Dorothy Day by Jim Forest   Dorothy Day (1897-1980), a convert to Catholicism after the birth of her daughter out of wedlock in 1927, founded the Catholic Worker movement and was one of the most prophetic voices in the American Catholic Church of the last century. March 9th The Violence of Love: The Pastoral Wisdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero            Translated and compiled by James Brockman, S.J. Excerpts from the homilies, interviews and articles of the martyred Archbishop of San Salvador, shot to death in 1980 while celebrating the Mass for his courageous commitment to the Gospel and his people.  April 13th Christianity for the 21st Century by Father Alexander Men   A convert to Orthodox Christianity from Judaism, Father Alexander Men was one of the most remarkable priests to come out of the Russian Orthodox Church of the last century. A critic of post-Communist xenophobia in Russia, his influence as a pastor, spiritual guide and theologian has been enormous and many are proposing his canonization. He was assassinated in 1990 while on his way to Church to celebrate the Liturgy.    May 11th Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope John Paul II An interview with Pope John Paul II, arguably one of the most influential popes in history, on a variety of questions ranging from pain, suffering and evil and the existence of God to Christianity’s relationships with other world religions. In addition to his many other accomplishments, this book made the Pope a best-selling author both here and in Europe.