Book excerpt: Ecclesiasticus Prayer brings together essays, which were delivered on various occasions and are arranged into four general topics-hence the subtitle. The first section on Icons offers an introductory lecture on the iconoclastic dispute with a select (updated) bibliography and a fresh exposition, on the basis of the original text of St. John of Damascus' Defense of the Icons. The second section on Saints represents an introduction to Orthodox Hagiography, which was prepared for the Orthodox-Reformed Dialogue, and offers an extensive bibliography on the subject. The third section on Feasts is a general presentation of the major movable and immovable feasts of the Orthodox liturgical years and dovetails with the section on the Saints. Finally, the fourth section on Prayer offers two expositions of the Lord's Prayer, one by St. Maximos the Confessor and another by St. Macarios of Corinth, which are representative of the patristic understanding of this Prayer that constitutes the basis of Orthodox spirituality.